Frank and Joseph were super excited that the teacher assigned them to the same group. Unfortunately, she also assigned George to their group. George never did any work, so Frank and Joseph knew that they were going to have to pull his weight. Over the next week, the two boys worked extensively to create and rehearse their presentation while George annoyed the girls who sat near him and played with his phone under his desk.

Frank asked Joseph whether they should tell the teacher about George’s failure to contribute to the project, but Joseph advised him against it because he didn’t want them to be known as snitches. So George continued to play as the other boys worked. On the last workday, Frank and Joseph debated whether or not they should even write George’s name on the project, but they decided to do it just to avoid conflict.

Soon it was time to deliver the presentation. Frank and Joseph bounced back and forth in a lively conversational way, delivering facts to the audience and demonstrating their knowledge of the subject. Unfortunately, when it was George’s turn to present, he just turned his back to the audience and read from the visual aid in a dry monotone voice. He mispronounced several words and didn’t seem to understand what he was reading.

Shortly after the presentation, the boys received a score sheet from their teacher. They had each received a B and the comment, “Frank and Joseph: nice presentation but I would like to see George get more involved next time. Please try and include him.”