Dad Viral Parenting Method Son's Grades Photo

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If your kid is falling behind in school, it can be difficult to encourage them to keep up. One dad, however, had a pretty savage method of encouraging his son to keep his grades up — and no, it didn't have anything to do with tutoring.

The unnamed dad is getting a lot of attention for a photo of him from a basketball game. The photo, taken at Cleveland Cavaliers-Charlotte Hornets game Friday night at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, shows a dad holding a sign addressed to his son.

"Thomas get your grades up and next time you'll be here," the sign reads. "Love, Dad."

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Tough love. ? [Credit: Jeremy Brevard/USA TODAY Sports]

A post shared by espn (@espn) on Mar 25, 2017 at 8:52am PDT

The photo, originally taken by USA Today sports photographer Jeremy Brevard, has been making the rounds, and the internet is living for this dad's parenting methods. After ESPN shared the photo on their Instagram, it received over 195,000 likes, with commenters torn between respecting the mystery dad and thinking this situation is a little messed up.

Most thought his tough love made him "dad of the year."

This is pretty awesome, this dad is father of the year. Period! @cavs @cleveland19news pic.twitter.com/nblBr1NErV
— Tia A. Ewing (@TIA_EWING) March 25, 2017

It's only March but we already have a strong candidate for dad of the year at the @cavs game pic.twitter.com/tFnT1qa50D
— Dom (@DumbMoreReady) March 25, 2017

Get your grades up Thomas! #parentingwin pic.twitter.com/VynXBNiozu
— Dan Koo (@danieliskoo) March 25, 2017

Though some did call the dad out for being at a game instead of helping his son.

"Maybe if Dad wasn't spending time making a poster for an NBA game and helping me with my homework instead I'd have better grades." - Thomas https://t.co/QJuGsLzXtC
— Kevin McGuire (@KevinOnCFB) March 25, 2017

Maybe if dad knew how to use punctuation, he'd be able to help Thomas get his grades back up. https://t.co/3EJKTpJcrR
— Adam Smoot, Tbh. (@adamsmoot) March 25, 2017

He's a whack dad for embarrassing his son. Maybe dad should have used the money for the ticket to get Thomas a tutor. https://t.co/ddMROp8LA1
— François Mackandal (@Jigga_Jay_T) March 27, 2017

It seems as if that first message wasn't enough, however, because Thomas's dad was back on Sunday at another game with a different sign. "Dad of the year" made an appearance at the Houston Rockets-Oklahoma City Thunder game, with a sign reading, "Thomas can you hear me now? STUDENT then ATHLETE son. In that order. Love, Dad."