By Breana Ross
ROSEDALE, Maryland (WBAL) — “Hard work pays off” is the life lesson two Rosedale parents strive to teach their 11-year-old son. They promised him if he made the honor roll, they’d give him a unique gift.
DJ Morris, also known as “Lil Syxx” is getting a jump start on his rap career. At just eleven years old, he produced a rap music video with the help of his parents. It’s a reward his parents promised him if he made the honor roll.
“I wasn’t doing too well and when they got that idea. I just, I had to excel,” DJ, a fifth grader at Shady Spring Elementary School, said.
“DJ was having a little bit of trouble with some of the subjects in school,” his father Brandon Morris said. “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.”
The idea started back when DJ was in third grade at Shady Spring Elementary School when he made the honor roll back then. His parents helped him produce a rap music video about summer.
“We’re all done with this virtual school though. Chillin on a beach sounds perfectly cool bro,” DJ raps in one of his videos.
He has made the honor roll every quarter since, so his parents owed him another music video.
“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,” Charaya Morris, DJ’s mother, said
“To all of my peers, let’s go. We cannot relax. The world is full of let downs, but I got your back,” DJ raps in another song.
DJ’s song “We’re Taking Over” is a call for children to be the positive change the world needs.
“We are the next generation. When you guys are gone, we are going to be the adults and we are going to be running the world and I’m like, we (need to) make better decisions,” DJ said.
Right now, he is committed to making good decisions in the classroom and getting good grades.
“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,” DJ said.
DJ’s parents said they will continue to reward his good grades with music videos and other things he loves. They hope they can inspire other parents to try positive reinforcement to motivate kids to achieve. Follow the links to watch DJ’s most recent music video, or to see his video from the third grade.
The-CNN-Wire
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