In a lot of ways, social media can be a great thing. But it can also be difficult , and can cause people (especially teens ) to have mental health issues.
That’s why this mom decided to try to keep her son away from it.
Well, at least until he’s 18. Lorna Klefsaas challenged her son, Sivert, with what she called the “18 for 18 challenge,” People reports .
She promised her son, then 12, $1800 if he stayed off social media until he was 18.
Lorna knew her son would take the challenge, and had complete faith that he would stay off social media for the next six years.
And he actually agreed.
For that kind of money, it would be hard to say no. Especially at 12, when $1800 feels like a lot (at least, more so than it does at 18).
The challenge came to be after Lorna watched her other kids’ struggles with social media.
Lorna states that she watched her eldest daughter’s relationships take a toll thanks to her social media obsession.
Taking her phone away helped a lot.
Her eldest daughter was in a much better place once she stopped relying on her phone and social media all the time, Lorna explains.
So she decided to do something similar with her son.
After hearing about a “16 for 16” challenge on the radio, Lorna decided to challenge Sivert with something similar, but with “18 for 18.”
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As the youngest of four kids, he had the least exposure to social media at the time.
According to the Klefsaas family, it was easy enough for Sivert at first. And while there were some times where he struggled, he ultimately stuck to the challenge.
Peer pressure is pretty easy to brush off when there’s the promise of money involved.
And in the end, he got his money.
Sivert recently celebrated his 18th birthday, and with that, the challenge came to an end. And yes, he got all $1800 smackeroos.
And now he has full range of any social media platform he wants.
Starting with Instagram, Sivert admitted that it’s a bit difficult to navigate the site. But he’ll probably pick it up eventually.
h/t: People
