Social media is one of those necessary evils in the world of today. Many try their best to use it for good but even through that, the negativity and hate and vulgar side of those social media platforms still comes through. Many parents in East Texas are beginning to have talks with their kids about joining a social media platform. One Minnesota mom tried an idea that you could possibly adopt for your kids.

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When Sivert Klefsaas was 12 years old, his mom came to him and said that if he could stay off of social media until he turns 18, she would give him $1,800. That was six years ago. Sivert's mom paid him that $1,800 on his 18th birthday.

Why did Sivert's mom do this?

Sivert's mom, Lorna, had seen first hand how social media could impact her children. Sivert's older sister had an addiction to Snapchat. Lorna could see the negative impact it was having on her. It took basically an intervention to get her off of social media so she could get her life back in order. Lorna is glad to say that her daughter, Sivert's older sister, has a healthy relationship with social media now and is doing very good with her grades in grad school.

What did Lorna do to keep her son, Sivert, off of social media?

For lack of better term, she bribed her son. Lorna called it her "18 for 18 Challenge." If Sivert could stay off of social media until he was 18 years old, she would pay him $1,800. Sivert agreed.

How did this affect Sivert?

It was tough for him since his friends all had social media. But he was able to concentrate more on his school work and playing football and is currently looking at offers to play football in college. As far as the first social media platform he signed up for after completing the challenge? Instagram.

Lorna posted what she did on her Facebook page and several other moms have reached out to her wanting to do something similar.

Many kids in East Texas are starting to ask their parents if they can have a Snapchat or TikTok or an account on whatever other popular social media app is out there. Social media can be a place of real good. The problem with that is the bad always seems to somehow outweigh that good. It's an important conversation to have with your pre-teen. Doing a challenge similar to Lorna's could be a solution. Give it a shot and see how it goes.

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