Explain why you’re grounding them. Reference set rules you have or times this has happened before. “You know it’s not OK to skip school. We’ve talked about this. I’m going to ground because I need you to learn from this.” “I asked you to start doing all your homework, and I’ve given you a month now to get there. You haven’t and you’ve been prioritizing other things, like hanging out with your friends. I’m grounding you because you need to focus on your school.” Specify the rules of the grounding. The rules should be strict enough for your child to understand that they’ve done something wrong, but not so strict that so they’ll resent you. “This means no going places after school, and no having friends over. I want you to come straight back home from school. You need to text me as soon as you’re home so I know.” “I don’t want you spending your time at home on your phone, either. I’ll let you use it for a half hour each day before bed. Other than that, it stays with me.” Keep the grounding to a week or just a few weekends. “You’re grounded for a week. If this happens again, I’ll make it a week and an extra weekend.” “I’m grounding you for two weekends.” Give them a chance to talk or explain themselves, but remind them that the punishment won’t change. “Do you understand?” “We can talk about this more later, but I’m not going to change my decision. You need to learn from what you’ve done, OK?”