While good parenting is critically important when the child's conduct or behavior is bad, the removal of the child's cellphone can often lead to the child refusing to come home or telling the other parent that they cannot live with the "bad cop" parent. Even limiting the child's usage of their cellphone may cause the same result.
One the years of my divorce and family law practice the one issue that I have seen initiated by the child for a change of custody (other than for parental abuse/neglect) is the response to a punishment that limits their usage of their cellphone. Children now treat their cellphone as if it is their lifeline to the entire world, friends, internet, social media, school, activities, intellectual curiosity and just about anything else that you can imagine. It is as though they cannot breathe without their cellphone...the newest form of oxygen for children and often their parents as well.
Try to get your child to stop texting, reading emails, going on social media, watching videos on their phone even while having dinner comfortably may not be a small task.
I have seen good parents have to suffer through a custody modification proceeding because they punished their child and took away or restricted their usage of their cellphone. I implore parents to find other ways to correct behavior, or to show how serious you are to the child without using their phone as the tool to get their attention. I am reasonably sure that any parent in such a situation will know other ways of getting their child's attention and hopefully obtaining better results.
I have had cases where the child refuses to come home or calls the other parent and says I am not going home you need to pick me up whether from school or a friend's house. The parent who gets the call might ask why or might just jump at the opportunity to see their child not on their parenting day or perhaps with the desire of then obtaining a child support change if they win a custody modification.
I obviously know that there is more to a custody modification then just a child complaining about "punishment" but it might just be the straw that breaks the camel's back and the child then lists multiple and varied reasons for the residential change.
The consequences of a child support change due to a custody modification can be financially devastating. I had a parent who had purchased a home after moving from a rental and believed that it was affordable because of their income and the child support received. When the court not only eliminated the child support being received but then ordered that parent to pay child support to the new custodial parent the mortgage and taxes were no longer affordable.
While raising children is not about receiving or paying chid support, we all know that for many people it is a major factor in how they live and plan their lives. Therefore, how we parent and teach our children continues to be an ongoing process. When in doubt how to handle a situation, if you cannot come up with a good solution speak with another family member, a friend, a counselor, a spiritual leader or anyone whose judgment and reason you trust.