Smart Fridge, Smart Teen: Grounding your Kid in the Age of Technology

Back in the day, when a child or teen broke the rules, parents automatically dictated “You’re Grounded!” The child was forbidden from leaving the house for social events for a specified period of time. We’ve seen it happen in every sitcom and television show of the ’80s and ’90s.

But ever since the revolution in digital media and technology, grounding doesn’t carry quite the same weight it once did, and effectively punishing a kid is proving difficult. Nowadays, kids don’t even mind being cooped up in their rooms all day long, as long as they have access to a screen where they can Instagram, Snapchat or tweet to their friends. 

That’s why we’re seeing more and more parents punishing kids by taking away their screen time, or by confiscating their child’s cell phone. That’s what happened to 15-year-old Dorothy last week. Dorothy, who lives in Kentucky and runs an Ariana Grande fan account on Twitter, was boiling rice in her kitchen one night when the stove suddenly burst into flames. In typical teenage fashion, Dorothy had been too preoccupied on her phone to even notice the fire. Her mom then took away her cell phone in order to teach her a lesson: pay more attention to her surroundings instead of her screen.

After 15-year-old Dorothy had her phone taken away from her, she started sending out tweets from her Nintendo DS. 

But having her phone taken away turned out to be an ineffective form of punishment. For the resourceful teenager quickly discovered that she could tweet from her Nintendo DS, a handheld video game device. Even after her mother caught her in the act, Dorothy found another outlet: her Wii. 

From that gaming device, Dorothy tweeted, “"hey guys omg. my mom is at work so i'm looking for my phone. wish me luck. lov u.” She didn’t find her cell phone, but she did locate the Nintendo DS her mom had confiscated. 

Dorothy recently sent out this tweet from her Wii, after her mom confiscated both her cell phone and her Nintendo DS.

Ultimately, Dorothy’s mom took away her daughter’s video game devices, and Dorothy was finally faced with the real punishment of no social media. 

Or so it would seem…

Dorothy didn’t give up so easily. She soon began tweeting from her refrigerator. Yes, you read that correctly. She used voice command on her smart fridge tweeting “I do not know if this is going to tweet I am talking to my fridge what the heck my Mom confiscated all of my electronics again." According to CBS News, it is possible to send out tweets using an LG smart refrigerator. 

After her mom took away all of her digital devices, Dorothy found a way to send out a tweet from her smart refrigerator. 

By this point, Dorothy’s story had gone viral and she was racking up thousands of followers on Twitter. CBS News even reached out to conduct an interview with Dorothy. But because the teen still didn’t have her electronics back, she was only able to conduct the interview via an iPod. 

Kudos to this mom to sticking to her guns, even when national media was picking up the story. If anything, this episode proves how complicated it’s becoming to punish teenagers. It’s unclear whether taking away electronics in this case was any punishment whatsoever. Dorothy went from 500 followers to more than 300,000 followers on Twitter and she gained national attention. 

The ultimate “punishment” today might not be grounding. Maybe it’s forcing your teen to leave the house and see the world, without a screen in hand. 

Editor’s Note:  To read more about teen addiction to screens, read this article about the 2016 documentary Screenagers. Also check out these tips for conducting a social media diet challenge.