The Boondocks by Aaron McGruder for July 19, 2022

This is the sort of Riley’s behavior that makes yesterday’s strip so pertinent.

i always wondered what his teachers in Chicago did. Smack him down or let him continue on doing nothing, moving up to another class because nobody inside or outside cared.

“I’m a teacher – you think I got money or something?”

Riley, the only reward you’ll get is bragging rights and the satisfaction that you’re one step closer to graduating.

..

Some parents have done it since time immemorial: give kids treats or higher allowance for getting high grades.

McGruder was ahead of his time on this one, or maybe he heard rumblings about an innovative teacher who persuaded the principal and/or PTA, or local businesses, to do something like start a reward fund for high grades in each class at Christmas time and at the end of the school year.

I know that prep schools do this all the time to encourage those kids to learn, since they are that rich that they think that they don’t have to learn at all. To them that reward is a pittance, but the competitive spirit kicks in to see how much money they can end up with at the end.

Of course, poor people can’t afford those rewards, but their kids have it drummed into their heads that only good grades and high education will get them out of poverty. Some kids listen and learn and when they get a good job after, they pay their kids for their high grades.

Do you really want to get paid what it’s worth ?