Grounded

I was grounded the whole summer. I couldn’t use my cell phone and my iPad mini. I had only my laptop with no Internet access. And it sucked.

My mother confiscated my phone because of my high phone bills. I used it for texting two of my best friends for nonsense stuff and for Internet usage whenever I couldn’t get a Wifi signal. She confiscated the iPad mini with the Wifi because of what I did in Facebook. I posted a status because of my anger at a classmate who was super annoying, although I did not mention any name in that status.

Now, heck, what was I going to do with my laptop without Internet? I don’t have games in my laptop, just Microsoft Office 2007, some pictures of me with my friends, music, and other stuff. I couldn’t do anything fun at all at home because I don’t play with toys anymore. We don’t have Wii, Xbox, or PlayStation. I don’t like eating a lot anymore, so my clothes will fit me. I couldn’t play with my sister because she was always at my cousins’ house. I couldn’t even practice new songs on my guitar because there was no Wifi. I didn’t have anyone to talk to. I couldn’t get updated on what’s new and trending.

My world was tattered. I felt like there was no life without my gadgets. I felt like I was in the inner core of the earth, like two sumo wrestlers had bumped me, like five taekwondo players had just kicked me.

But not long after my mother confiscated my gadgets (except for my laptop), I: became more responsible in cleaning my room and doing household chores; got to read articles in “Youngblood 4” and looked up the words that I did not understand, thus enriching my vocabulary; wrote some essays (five so far, yippee!); found the time to sleep because at night I chatted with my dad on my laptop (Yahoo Messenger was the only thing I could access through the Internet); got to study in advance; and had all the time to think of my plans for the next school year.

And what have I learned? That mothers/fathers know best, and that they do things to ensure a bright future for us.

Cielo Marie S. Olavario, 12, says she is a proud Pasig Paulinian and an incoming seventh-grader.