Mother pays son $1,800 to stay off social media for 6 years

MOTLEY, Minn. — An 18-year-old in Minnesota is $1,800 richer thanks to an agreement he made with his mom, wherein he promised to stay off social media until he was an adult.

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Sivert Klefsaas was 12 when he made the agreement with his mother, which she called the “18 for 18 challenge,” KARE reported.

In a post on Facebook, Lorna Klefsaas shared a picture of Sivert, along with a phone and the check he earned, with the caption: “He turns 18 tomorrow. He will have $1800 in his pocket and new accounts on Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter!”

“He did really dig in. He was like, ‘I’m not breaking this.’ I’m proud of him, because there were a few times where it was harder,” Lorna Klefsaas told KARE.

Lorna told CNN she was inspired to create the challenge after hearing about the “16 for 16″ on the radio when a mother gave her daughter $1,600 when she turned 16 if she stayed off social media, then decided to add two years and $200 to her the deal.

Sivert told CNN it wasn’t too hard for him to live without social media, and before making the deal with his mother the only app he had was Snapchat. He also said his friends kept him up to date on any information or trends he might be missing.

“You just hear about all the stuff that goes on and just with my friends and with school, and like, ‘oh somebody said this about you’ and ‘oh somebody did that.’ And I was really spared from all that,” Sivert told KARE.

But once he turned 18, he immediately made new accounts.

“It’s hilarious. I feel like I’m 80. I can’t seem to figure out social media. It’s pretty embarrassing. I’ll be with my friends, and they are like, ‘What are you doing?’” Sivert told KARE.

Sivert told CNN he hasn’t decided what he will do with the $1,800 yet, but said he will likely get something for his dorm room when he attends the University of Northwestern St. Paul in the fall.

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