His grades aren’t good and he has no motivation to do well at anything. He claims he can’t focus and that he’s just not smart. We know that’s not true.

He seems to not care about missed or late assignments, and claims that he has no motivation to do better. We’ve tried taking away screen/xbox time, and limiting his other privileges, but nothing changes. The apathy is killing us as parents. He’s an 8th grader and is developing terrible habits that will crush him in high school.

We don’t really know what to do. He’s too afraid to ask for help from teachers, and refuses to let us try and work with a counselor or something along those lines. All he cares about is having fun, being with friends, and playing Xbox. We’ve taken those things away and he still has zero motivation to do better in school.

I know some part of this is just being a 13 yr old boy, but he’s starting down a slippery slope. How have y’all dealt with similar issues with your kids?