Fayette County Superior Court Judge Chris Edwards knows just how to get the attention of local school children: He waves a wad of cash in his hand.

His message? Read every day, and it will translate to more money down the road. But drop out of school and you may just well “drop into jail,” the judge said, noting that two-thirds of those in Georgia prisons dropped out of high school.

“Do you know what happens if you don’t read?” Edwards asked students at Oak Grove Elementary in Peachtree City Friday afternoon.

He then wadded up six $100 bills and threw them on the floor. The gym filled with howls of disbelief from the children.

“This happens. It’s gone.”

But students who stay in school and stick with reading can earn a whole lot more money over their career, Edwards said. He suggested reading every night and using the school’s accelerated reader program, which rewards kids for reading additional books outside of the ones assigned in class.

Dressed in his judge’s robe, Edwards noted that part of his job is to send people to prison. Many of them, he said, broke the law when they were drunk or high on drugs.

Edwards distributed stickers to the children reminding them to stay in school, work hard on their reading skills and say no to drugs and alcohol. He also urged the kids to choose their friends wisely as many of the people he sends to jail claim they were caught up in circumstances that were their friends’ ideas.

“Don’t let your friends get you in trouble,” Edwards said.

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