Don’t ground the teen, confiscate the mobile phone

Parents looking to grab a teenager’s attention with a stiff punishment should confiscate their mobile phone.

A study by a top South Korean advertising firm shows that a mobile is one of a Korean teenager’s most prized possessions. Among 13- to 15-year-olds, 77.5 percent said a mobile phone was a “must-have” item, while for those aged 16 to 18 the figure was 76.7 percent, the Cheil Communications survey showed.

“Cell phones are the key to a teenager’s social network,” said Andy Joohyun Lee, senior researcher at Cheil Communications’ Brand Marketing Institute. Teenagers in Internet-savvy South Korea said they would feel helpless without a mobile, making it impossible to keep in touch with friends and send them text messages and pictures. reuters

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