High school freshman Rachel Baier, in dire need of cash and upset that she wasn’t able to find a babysitting job, decided to do something drastic: The 14-year-old told her father that she’d give up Facebook for the rest of the school year…if he paid her to do so. At first, her father, Paul, thought she was kidding; but when Rachel convinced him she wasn’t, he drew up a formal contract and made her sign it. The deal: Rachel would have to punt her favorite social networking site for more than four months; in return, she’d receive $200—$50 now and the rest at the conclusion of the contract. Rachel says she’ll still be able to keep up with her friends through texting and face-to-face contact at school, but even if she gets the itch to fire up her Facebook account again, she won’t be able; one of the conditions of the contract was to turn over her account to her father, who changed her password. (ABC News)

Paul Asay has covered religion for The Washington Post, Christianity Today, Beliefnet.com and The (Colorado Springs) Gazette. He writes about culture for Plugged In and wrote the Batman book God on the Streets of Gotham (Tyndale). He lives in Colorado Springs with wife, Wendy, and two children. Follow him on Twitter.