Father-daughter enter $200 agreement to keep her off Facebook

Facebook is a growing addiction among teenagers across the world and as a parent some might be overly concerned. How concerned you ask? So much so that a father goes on to pay his 14-year old teenage daughter a sum of $200 to quit Facebook for a period of five months.


CNET reports via Daily Dot that Rachel Baier seems to have signed a Facebook Deactivation Agreement that lasts from February 4 2013 to June 26 2013. Paul Baier, a vice president at a Boston-area energy firm, posted a photograph of the signed contract on his blog, that focuses on energy technology and sustainability.


Speaking to the Daily Dot, Paul was quoted as saying, "It was her idea. She wants to earn money and also finds Facebook a distraction and a waste of time sometimes. She plans to go back on after the 6 months is over." The signatures of both father and daughter appear at the bottom of the contract.


The contractual agreement also stated that Rachel's father will have the right to change her Facebook password and deactivate her account in case she is tempted to reactivate it under any circumstances. As far as the money is concerned, Rachel plans on putting it to good use to buy "stuff" as per her contract.


But looks like she'll have to stay committed to earn it. She will be paid a sum of $50 only by April 15 while the remaining $150 will be given to her only on June 26, meaning once the deal comes to a close.



Multiple studies have been associated with Facebook implicating the negative impacts of the social network in today's era. Findings of German researchers suggest that witnessing friends' vacations, love lives and work successes on Facebook can cause envy and trigger feelings of misery and loneliness.


Another one from the Pew Research Center indicates that about 61 percent of US users said they had taken time off from Facebook at some point, with 27 percent planning to spend less time on it in the coming year. A new consumer study says that Facebook may lower one's self-control and tempt him or her into excessive eating or spending.


In September last year, a study revealed that an estimated 5.6 million Facebook clients about 3.5 percent of its US users are children who the company says are banned from the site. Facebook and many other web sites bar people under age 13 because the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires web sites to give special treatment to children 12 or younger. The law aims to stop marketers prying personal information from children or using their data to advertise to them.