Editing For Better or For Worse (section)

==Legacy==

The strip is perhaps best known for the fact that, unlike most comic strips, it took place more or less in real time for most of its run. Michael and Elizabeth were a young child and a toddler at the strip's beginning, and by the end had grown into adults, with Michael married and raising his own children while Elizabeth married at the end of the strip. The youngest child, April, was born 11 years into the strip's run and was 17 at the strip's conclusion.
[[File:For_Better_or_For_Worse_Panel_Excerpt_of_Middle_School_Students.jpg|thumb|right|Panel excerpt of April and her friends commenting on sixth grade students and their fashion choices. Johnston received praise for her ability to take real world events and incorporate them into her story.]]
During its run, the strip was also celebrated for its [[realism (arts)|realism]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/florida-today-comic-strip-gets-real/137574906/ |title=Comic strip gets real |first=Pam |last=Harbaugh |newspaper=[[Florida Today]] |page=1E |date=January 13, 2002 |access-date=December 28, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> eschewing cartoon stereotypes in favour of a nuanced, relatable look at typical adult, child and teen concerns. For example, in the early 2000s, there was a Western trend in which students as young as ten years old wore [[thong underwear]] above their pants.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/calgary-herald-thong-wearing-pupils-get/137571981/|title=Thong-wearing pupils get a dressing-down |first=Adam |last=Sage |newspaper=[[Calgary Herald]] |page=ES7 |date=October 11, 2003 |access-date=December 28, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> Johnston, in September 2004, used this trend as inspiration to create a new storyline in which the now eighth grade April and her friends returned to school to see the incoming sixth graders dressing in revealing clothing and exposing their thongs. Johnston herself did not need to look far for inspiration; she noted that “[w]e actually do get days that are warm enough for young girls to hang wildly out of their clothing…”<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-herald-news-over-exposed-some-schoo/137571711/ |title= Over exposed: Some schools maintain modesty's still best policy |first=Whitney |last=Kvasager | newspaper=[[The Herald-News]] |page=A1 |date=September 19, 2004 |access-date=December 28, 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref>

A storyline in which the supporting character Lawrence came out as gay cemented this reputation, as well as various stories dealing with prejudice, bullying, the mentally and physically handicapped, theft, cheating and abuse. The Pattersons were often shown as a good, "normal" family, often forced to deal with others from broken homes or worse situations.