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As a reward for consistently landing on his school’s honor roll, an 11-year-old in Rosedale, Maryland, recently got the opportunity to shoot a music video!
WBAL reports that DJ Morris—aka “Lil Syxx”—got the opportunity after his parents came up with a unique incentive to help him do well in school.
“I wasn’t doing too well and when they got that idea, I just had to excel.”
DJ’s father, Brandon Morris, explained that—while the family initially considered going the traditional route by trying to take away things like video games—this “really wasn’t working.”
So, back when DJ was in the third grade, the family decided to take on a different approach and “try positive reinforcement” by promising him the opportunity to produce his very own music video.
“DJ was having a little bit of trouble with some of the subjects in school. We were thinking about taking things away, taking TV away, taking video games away, seeing if that would work and it really wasn’t working. So, I just thought to myself, ‘Let’s do something positive. Let’s try positive reinforcement.'”
After initially making honor roll in third grade, DJ got to make a video centered on celebrating the summertime vibes.
Since then, DJ’s consistently made honor roll every single quarter, and—as a result—his parents decided that he had earned the opportunity to shoot another music video.
The child’s mother, Charaya Morris, noted that the parents approached DJ about making another song and video, and DJ instantly honed in on a theme that was centered on making a difference.
“We asked him what he wanted to talk about, and he is very passionate about the things that he sees in the world, injustices and stuff like that, and so this was the topic that he picked.”
Regarding this new track, DJ explains that he’s focused on sending the message that—as they’re “the next generation”—the youth of today have to be focused on being the change that the world needs to see.
“We’re the next generation. When you guys are gone, we’re going to be the adults and we are going to be running the world and I’m like, we gotta make better decisions.”
In response to the opportunities he’s been afforded, DJ says that he hopes others realize that they “can get what they want by having good grades as well.”
“I think the fact that I can get this music video out of doing good grades means that people can get what they want by having good grades as well, and I want people to see that.”
With how well this “positive reinforcement” has been going, the family plans to continue rewarding DJ’s stellar efforts with similar initiatives.
Shoutout to this family for encouraging their child to excel with a fun example of “positive reinforcement!”
