Kids have basic everyday rules to follow and learning them is part of growing up. Wear clean clothes to school. Brush your teeth every morning. Sit in your seat on the bus. Don’t steal from people. Keep your hands to yourself. Do what the teacher tells you to do and turn in your assignments. None of this exotic or unique in society.

I fully agree that once even is taken away it makes it extremely difficult to impose any sort of discipline. I didn’t start off here mind you - the intent was to lose an item for a week and get it back. I get a call from the teacher because you won’t stop making noises in class - you lose your phone this week. Pretty typical, right?

Think about it. When I was a teen and had a car I could go anywhere I wanted. I had 1 rule - my ass had to be home before midnight. When I came home after midnight I had the car taken away for a while. It was embarrassing to take the bus while all my friends could drive. Now, imagine if I continually got caught stealing the keys back so I could continue driving. As a parent you’d look the other way and accept it? Not in this lifetime in my parents house - they’d sell that car and I’d be waking.