Basic Trope: The kindest children are actually mischievous and rebellious, while the law-abiding ones are arrogant, mean or a nuisance.
- Straight: Alice is an eight-year-old schoolgirl. She dislikes studying and often does things after being told not to do them, but she's also very kind. Bob, her classmate, is very studious and rules-obeying, but he's also mean and seen as annoying.
- Exaggerated: Any child who is even the slightest bit academically-focused or manners-concerned is against Alice.
- Downplayed: While Alice does find Bob a bit annoying, he does help her and they are friends.
- Justified:
- The school's rules are evil somehow, so it's only natural that obeying them makes you evil.
- Alice is a
Chaotic Good Jerk with a Heart of Gold, while Bob is a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing.
- Inverted: Anyone the slightest bit mischeivous is seen as evil.
- Subverted: Alice complains about Bob being too much of a stickler to the rules, but then her friend Carol tells her rules are not so bad.
- Double Subverted: Then Alice gets mad at Carol and Carol changes her mind.
- Parodied: Carol scolds Alice for "only" getting three detentions in one week.
- Zigzagged: Alice is mischeivous and doesn't like studying, while Bob is seen as annoying and mean and he's studious and likes to follow the rules. However, Carol also likes studying and following the rules and she's Alice's best friend. David is also naughty and mean at the same time, while Edward is sometimes naughty and sometimes well-behaved and his attitude is pretty flighty.
- Averted: Naughtiness is seen as undesirable (if not automatically evil).
- Enforced: The writer wanted to show that kids who are a bit naughty aren't all bad, but went a bit overboard.
- Invoked: Alice does a big speech in front of a group of other students about how obeying is bad.
- Exploited: Alice excuses her behaviour because "Bob follows rules and he's a pain in the neck."
- Defied: Bob tries to get on Alice's good side and not be mean to avoid giving studious, rules-abiding kids a bad name.
- Discussed: "Why are all the ones who obey so annoying?"
- Conversed: "That show gives non-naughty kids like the ones I babysit a bad name."
- Deconstructed: Alice is a decent person, but she's still a child, and she breaks rules without understanding their purpose. Eventually, she gets into real danger because of this.
- Reconstructed: Alice is smart enough to follow the rules when it makes sense for her. She only flaunts them when it makes sense.
- Played for Laughs: Alice doesn't like getting good marks at school.
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