Dear Queenie,
I’m in high school and my father took away my smart phone as a punishment for something I did wrong and when it was time for him to give it back to me he couldn’t find it.
I paid for the phone myself out of my allowance and my pay for a part-time job and I also paid a lot for the apps and other stuff I downloaded, but when I asked my father to replace the phone he said it was my fault he took it away and I will have to replace it myself.
Queenie, is this fair?—Deprived teenager
Dear Teenager,
It depends on what your punishment was supposed to be. If it was supposed to be permanent loss of the smart phone, you will have to replace it yourself – assuming your father says it is okay to do so and he will not take the new one away from you.
However, if your father said he would give your phone back after a certain period of time, then it is up to him to do so, even if it means buying you a new one and loading it up for you (or reimbursing you for what it costs you to do so).
