I am very thankful that I haven't really had to punish my teens. I am wondering what would be a good punishment if I needed it.
My thought is taking away the computer or cell phones along with no hanging out with friends.
What do you do?

Sounds to me like you have the right idea. Take away the things that they use the most. Funny thing is, my mom always would ask me what my favorite thing was, and I'd lie, so she'd end up taking away my 'favorite' book or something hahaha! Really, if she would have taken away my CDs, I would have been going crazy!

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-Brittany Brydahl

You could either take away the things that they like, or you could make them do things that they don't like doing like extra chores. Spanking isn't as effective once your children get older, so it helps to have an alternative means to punish them with.

Ahh just ground them if needed that means no phone, less tv and pc, and no going out with friends. I really wish I was disciplined that way. My mom used to give me a cp before like 3 times already but she ended up confiscating them and never returned to me ever again. T_T

I have not had to deal with teens myself, but from what I observed helping out at a boarding school for troubled kids, taking away privileges (computer, games, TV, etc.) works best.

People tend to either act better or act worse when you take away something that they really enjoy. And since you're dealing with a teenager, you have to be extra careful.

When you talk about grounding a teenager, it can be very tricky. Especially if they work and are involved in sports. You never see them anyways, so grounding them wouldn't really be that big of a deal. I have a hard time taking something away from my kids that they bought or are paying for themself.

Yes, I would feel just as uneasy about taking something they paid for themselves (unless they really tick me off, LOL!!). But anything I provide - I'd cut it off in a heartbeat.

Well personally it always worked best for me, when my parents made me come up with a good punishment. 'Cause then I couldn't be mad at them for it. If I chose a really stupid punishment, they would tell me, "Try again." until I came up with something we could both agree on. I'm almost 18 and what they are doing now just makes me angry. I buy my own stuff... Clothes, Ipod, Computer anything you can think of. And, even though I payed for it, they take it away and most of the time end up breaking or scratching it. Also, grounding a kid from their friends for bad grades, only works if their actual Grades are bad and not just the fact that they have work that's a tad bit behind. I'm taking extra classes at an alternative school and a college at the moment. I'm getting 1-3 credits a month. But I'm not allowed to see my boyfriend until I am back on schedule. If I was to be working at the same pace as the students around me, I would be ahead. But because I have made my own schedule that has me doing three times the amount they are doing three times as fast, I am a bit behind. Because of my running away last year I am only allowed to see the guy i have been dating for the past nine months once a week for about five hours at a time. Because I am now grounded of my excellent (yet not on schedule) achievements in school I cant see him at all. When I do turn 18 I wont be having any second thoughts about leaving my parents house. They are extreme Nazi-Fake-Christians, don't be like that and any parent will do just fine. (also dont be like my mother, teens will jump out two story windows if you throw large hard cover dictionaries at them)