Journal 5 - 21st Century Punishment

I believe that parents who take away their child's cell phone are hurting themselves as well as their child. Cell phones are such a great way of communication that we take for granted today. Parents have become used to instant communication with their children for sports practice, extra curricular activities, and social activities. After I pull into the church parking lot every morning at school I text my parents saying that I arrived safely. When I am in my car getting ready to leave swim practice in Petersburg I text my parents that I am leaving. With that information my mother knows when to have dinner ready and my dad will know if he will be home before or after I arrive, and can tell me which side of the garage to park behind. My parents never take my cell phone away as they will lose that communication and the reassurance that my sister and I have arrived at our destination safely. By parents taking away their child's cell phone they lose that instant communication. Taking away Facebook or an iPod would be the way to go if a parent wants to take away their kid's technology. I think another fair 21st century besides taking away technology is simple grounding. If a parent gave out a week's worth of grounding and enforced it, I believe that would be as effective as taking away technology. While virtually talking to people is great, it can not substitute physical human interaction. Grounding deprives a kid of that, causing an effective punishment. For people like myself who stays at home the majority of the time, grounding would not be as effective punishment if the kid does not go out with their friends all the time. In that case taking away a computer, television (or television show, I would go through a withdraw if my Warehouse 13 is taken away from me), or even books would be the most effective punishment. In the 21st century punishment is very different from the previous century's punishment. If I was to be punished in the 70's I would have been hit with a belt, spanked, soap in the mouth, or hit (hoorah for public schools without nuns armed with rulers) with wooden objects. In the 21st century physical punishment is no longer popular with cases of extreme punishment being called child abuse.