Parents are removing privileges to use Facebook, cell phones, iPods and other digital devices following an indiscretion. For a trend of low grades on report cards, a parent might revoke Facebook and cell phone privileges for a specific period of time or until grades improve.

A Pew Internet and American Life Project study has found that 62 percent of parents have taken away a cell phone as punishment. Whereas grounding used to mean not going out, driving the car or using the standard phone, it has now extended to the area of life where social activities have migrated for most teens—the digital world (Donna St. George, "Parents Use ‘Digital' Grounding as a 21st-Century Disciplinary Tool," WashingtonPost.com, Sept. 5, 2010).