MOST Lancers get grounded for things such as staying out late, not doing chores, or talking back to their parents, but that’s not what happened to me.

I walked into my house on New Year’s Day to find my mom waiting to confiscate my phone and car keys.

As of June 2025, I’ve had secret accounts on all major social media platforms: Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok. In an attempt to hide all of this from my parents, I blocked my entire family and set my Instagram account to private, but I stupidly kept my TikTok public. Because of that, somebody sent my mom screenshots with the text message, “Did you know about this?”

The night of my grounding felt intense. I could hear my parents talking about me through the wall, and I found myself tossing and turning, waiting for a distraction to appear out of thin air. My TV was too bright and distracting, and I had nothing to look forward to the next day. Without access to my car and phone, I felt hopeless. There was no contact with my friends, unless they had my parents’ numbers.

I have one friend, Shaylynn, who would show up randomly to keep me company. I’m so grateful to her because she made a 20-minute drive twice a week just to see me. In the first few days, I had trouble with little things like sleeping, staying occupied, and sitting still. My anxiety increased, which led to losing even more sleep.

The biggest thing I noticed while being grounded is that there’s no way to see the time. Usually, when you check the time, you just pick up your phone, but since I didn’t have one, time moved incredibly slowly. After about a week, I realized that my parents had no way to see where I was when my friends picked me up. I thought about taking advantage of this, but I decided not to because I couldn’t risk extending my grounding. I missed my social life and was willing to do whatever it took to regain trust.

After two weeks of being grounded, my stepdad came into my room and handed me my phone. He sat on the end of my bed and silently handed it to me. There were a lot of unwanted calls I had missed. This is when I became grateful for my grounding. Without a phone or a car, I was glad I didn’t have to talk to people I didn’t want to. I had gained a fresh perspective on living without a phone.