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When your sibling is struggling with school, it is good to try to help them, but sometimes there isn’t much you can do.

What would you do if your younger brother was not trying at all with school, and no matter how much you tried to work with him, he wouldn’t put in any effort, but your parents wouldn’t help?

That is the situation that the older sister in this story is in, so she doesn’t know what else she can do to help get her brother onto a better path.

Personally, I think she is already going above and beyond. Unfortunately, if the parents won’t help, there isn’t much else she can try.

AIO? My 12 year old brother doesn’t care about school and is failing all of his classes. What do I do?

So, my 12 year old brother is currently in grade 8 and failing all his classes.

Her brother is on a bad path it seems.

He’s always been a troubled kid and my failure in life alcoholic father just seems to enable him.

For context, my younger brother has always had issues with focusing in school ever since he was in elementary.

Where is his mother in this?

He gets into fights and talks back to his teachers which has lead to multiple suspensions so far.

He pretends to complete his assignments and just types in random answers and circles random questions in his tests, he’s not even trying.

At least his sister is trying, but there isn’t a lot more she could do.

I don’t know how it got this bad, but he isn’t even able to write a full paragraph. He has been in tutoring since he was in grade 7 and it is definitely not helping.

I’ve been on him about getting his grades up and we even got him a new tutor and I’ve been making him study every night to the best of my ability, however, there is only so much I can do since I am 19 and usually busy with university.

Mom doesn’t seem to care.

My parents are usually never home either and they struggle with English, so they wouldn’t even be able to help him if they wanted to.

Whenever I ask my mom if he studied, she always has a snarky comment to make that I am too uptight and thats he is just a kid and that things will work themselves out.

If the parents don’t care, her hands are tied.

Yesterday, I asked her if he was at tutoring and she told me yes, an hour later I got a call from my brother asking me if I would pick him up from a soccer game he was watching at his school.

I asked my mom about this and she said that she lied to me about him being at tutoring because I am too uptight about him getting his school work done.

It is good that she is concerned, but it would be frustrating.

Am I crazy, or is it insane that my mom ISN’T uptight about him getting his work done. I understand letting a kid get some days where they can just relax and have fun, but not to this extent.

I have never seen him complete any homework at home or even study unless I make him do it. His average in all of his classes is 30%.

He is way to young to give up on.

Today I showed my mom his newly updated grades and she said to me “I cant do it anymore. If he wont study, its on him and its not my business.”

I don’t think she cares enough to try harder. At this rate, I don’t think that my brother will graduate junior high or even high school, and I am out of options.

It isn’t her role to do this, but at this point, what could it hurt?

My parents seem to just enable him and let him do what he wants if he asks enough times.

If Im being honest, I’ve even debated smacking him across the face a few times to simply instil fear in him in order to get him to listen.

The kid has no drive at all.

This kid genuinely believes that he doesn’t have to listen to anyone and he will always get his way in life.

He has no goals, hopes or dreams. Whenever we talk to him about how he is doing really bad, he gets extremely defensive and tells us that he doesn’t care about school or if he ever graduates.

I can see why she is frustrated.

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I am at a dead-end here and I have no idea what to do at this point.

What do you guys think I should do?

At the end of the day, there isn’t much else she can do since she isn’t a parent. But that must be frustrating.

Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say about this situation.

Sadly, this is good advice.

This could be inspiring.

Here is a good suggestion.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man who offered to buy his parents a house with his lottery winnings, only to find out they think they deserve half of all his winnings.

This person says to just stop trying for now.

There is only so much she can do, and at this point she is just burning herself out.

Unfortunately, if the parents don’t care, this kid will just continue to struggle.

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Author

Michael Levanduski

Senior Contributing Editor, Workplace & Community

Michael Levanduski is a veteran journalist and digital culture specialist with over 15 years of professional writing and research experience. While his background spans emerging technology and complex technical subjects, Michael specializes in analyzing workplace ethics, property disputes, and viral interpersonal dynamics across modern digital forums.

Since joining TwistedSifter in 2024, Michael has authored some of the publication’s most widely read coverage on corporate policy, malicious compliance, and neighborhood relations. Rather than simply aggregating online debates, he brings rigorous research, organizational context, and an empathetic editorial voice to everyday human dilemmas—transforming raw forum discussions into insightful, highly engaging narratives.

When he isn’t covering internet culture, Michael enjoys traveling, keeping up with tech trends, and spending time with his family. Connect with Michael on LinkedIn and Facebook.