Care and Feeding is Slate’s parenting advice column. Have a question for Care and Feeding? Submit it here .

Dear Care and Feeding,

I have a 12-year-old son, “Zach.” Zach gets excellent grades, so I was stunned when one of his science assignments came back as a zero. I asked him what on earth happened, and he told me that it was a group assignment; the four of them were supposed to research, compile, and jointly present a report on different sources of energy production.

In his own words, he was paired with “three slackers,” who expected him to do it all and just ride off his work. One of them has apparently been held back a previous year. So he made a decision that really troubles me.

He was sure that his grades will be good enough even if he bombed this assignment, so he jus

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