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Having your phone taken away by your parents is a relatively common punishment. Your parents may decide to take your phone away because you have abused your phone privileges. They may also decide to take your phone away as a punishment for a different mistake. It is important to understand why your parents took away your phone, discuss how to get it returned, and show your parents that you take your phone responsibilities seriously.
Steps
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Determine the best time to talk to your parents. Select a good time and place to talk to your parents. Make sure that you are in a private location such as the car or your home. Don’t begin the conversation right before a scheduled event.
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Discuss the problem with your parents. Calmly approach your parents so that you can talk about the problem. Your goal is to determine why your parents took your phone away. If you don’t know why your phone was taken, you will not know the best way to get it returned.
- Give yourself time to cool off. Do not talk to your parents when you are angry with them for taking your phone.
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Actively listen to your parents. When your parents talk to you about what you did wrong, make sure you are truly listening to them. Avoid thinking about what you want to say in response. Think carefully about what they are saying so that you can respond thoughtfully and respectfully. [1] X Research source
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Express your feelings. Reflect on your parents’ complaints. Then, tell them how this makes you feel. Discuss your side of the story with them so they have a better understanding of why the mistake happened. [2] X Research source
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Apologize for your mistake. Own up to your mistake and make a sincere apology to your parents. Your parents are trying to teach you a lesson by taking your phone away. The first step in recognizing and correcting your mistake is to apologize.Give them time to think and discuss it together and privately, while doing this don't ask and ask and be patient. this shows that your mature and understand that they need to talk and think. [3] X Trustworthy Source Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School's Educational Site for the Public Go to source
- Avoid begging for your phone back after the apology. It is important to do what your parents have requested in order to get your phone back. Begging does not indicate a sincere apology.
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Discuss a plan on how to regain your phone privileges. Once you have fully discussed the problem with your parents, request a plan to get your phone back. Be sure to discuss a timeline and list of steps that you need to take.
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Determine the owner of the phone. If you do not pay your phone bill, you must understand that the phone is not yours. Make an effort to respect the rules that have been put in place. If you are unclear about these rules, discuss them with your parents.
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Correct your wrongdoing. Your parents are likely to give you a set of expectations that must be met in order to get your phone returned. Work diligently to meet these expectations.
- For example, if your phone usage costed your parents a lot of extra money, they might request that you pay that portion of the bill. Find odd jobs and chores that you can do to earn some extra money to pay off that debt to your parents.
- If your parents took your phone away because of poor grades, study every night to ensure that your grades improve. Show your parents your next test grade to prove that you are taking your grades seriously.
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Consistently meet your parents’ requests. You need to prove to your parents that you take their concerns seriously and will not repeat your mistake. You can prove this to them by repeatedly meeting their requests, instead of simply meeting them when you get in trouble.
- This will also prevent your phone from being taken away in the future.
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Use your phone at responsible times. Once you get your phone back it is important to use it properly. Have a discussion with your parents on when you can and cannot use your phone. [4] X Trustworthy Source HelpGuide Nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free, evidence-based mental health and wellness resources. Go to source
- Discuss a phone curfew. Decide on a location that your phone will go at night to be charged. Determine if this curfew is different on weekends or weekdays.
- Avoid using your phone when you are at the dinner table, in class, or driving. By understanding these basic phone etiquette rules, you are demonstrating responsibility to your parents.
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Avoid exceeding your monthly phone plan. If you do not pay your phone bill, you may not totally understand your phone plan. Your phone bill will be considerably more expensive if you exceed your phone plan. Discuss this plan with your parents. [5] X Trustworthy Source American Psychological Association Leading scientific and professional organization of licensed psychologists Go to source
- Figure out if you have unlimited minutes or a cap on your monthly minutes.
- Determine how many texts or picture messages you can send per month.
- Know how much data you can use and how to avoid going over your data limit.
- Ask your parents if you have any roaming or international calling restrictions. It might cost more to make calls or send texts out of your state or country.
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Respect your parents’ boundaries. When your parents set boundaries for your phone usage, respect those boundaries. This is key to preventing your phone from being taken away again. Use your phone responsibly. [6] X Research source
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Community Q&A
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QuestionMy mom changes my phone password every night. How do I make her trust me? I've done nothing wrong.Community AnswerTry having a conversation with her about this. Your mom deserves to know that this upsets her. Ask her what she needs in order to trust you with your phone.
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QuestionWhat if it's because of bad grades?Community AnswerTalk to your parents about your grades. Figure out what your grades need to be in order to get your phone returned. Then, work on keeping your grades up so you can prevent your phone from being taken again.
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QuestionMy phone was taken away and I can't find it. How can I find it?Community AnswerTalk to your parents about how you can get your phone back. If you steal your phone back you will probably get in even more trouble.
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Tips
- Don’t beg for your phone back. Discuss the proper way to get your phone returned to you.Thanks
- Keep your grades up to show that you're responsible and ready to have your phone returned.Thanks
- Occasionally ask if you have been good enough. Try asking once a month but don't beg for it or you won't get it.Thanks
Tips from our Readers
The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.
- Even if you try everything to get your phone back, you may not succeed for a very long time, even months. Relax, it's not the end of the world. Also, when a situation comes up where having your phone would have been in your parents' favor (i.e., contacting somebody via text message when your parents say that you 'never talk to so-and-so' or setting an alarm when you have no other options) choose your response carefully and cautiously—it may turn the situation around.
- The first thing you should do to get your phone back is think about what you did wrong. For example, I was paying more attention to my phone than my math and I was really struggling with it. So, recently I started paying more attention to my homework and I offered to only use my phone after schoolwork and for my alarm clock and it seems to be working.
- Try and be consistent. When you get your phone back, do not go back to your old habits. If you go back to your old habits, it will be taken away again. If you have trouble being consistent when your parents ask you to do something, try asking them to keep the phone until you have properly finished the task you have been assigned.
- Writing a letter may be the best thing. I tried it and it worked! But make sure you explain that you're not doing this just to get your phone back (even though you may be)—tell them you actually understand what you did wrong and how you'll fix it in the future.
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Warnings
- Using too much data or talking on the phone for long hours can result in a huge bill.Thanks
- Despite your efforts, your parents may decide not to return your phone.Thanks
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References
- ↑ https://kidshealth.org/en/kids/talk-parents.html
- ↑ https://psychcentral.com/lib/feeling-stuck-how-to-express-your-feelings
- ↑ https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-art-of-a-heartfelt-apology-2021041322366
- ↑ https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/social-media-and-mental-health.htm
- ↑ https://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/04/cover-kids-screens
- ↑ https://positivepsychology.com/great-self-care-setting-healthy-boundaries/
About This Article
Article Summary
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To get your phone back after your parents take it away, try talking to them and apologizing, even if you feel like you didn't do anything wrong. It's also a good idea to wait until you're calm and collected and your parents have cooled off a bit before you talk to them so they're more likely to give your phone back. It might not be fun, but you could offer to do chores around the house or to pay your portion of the phone bill for the month in exchange for your phone. Whichever route you take, remember to act mature around your parents so you get your phone back as soon as possible. To learn different ways you can convince your parents to give you your phone back, read on!
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