<p>I agree it is hard, if not impossible, to motivate another to “care about school”. </p>
<p>You can, however, convey your expectations, provide clear guidelines for how to achieve said expectations and impose penalties when they are not met. I would first make sure this kid does not have any kind of LDs though. Of course, not every disinterested kid has ADHD/LDs, but I would still want to rule them out first. Being able to read two books during break does not rule out underlying problems. Kids pick up coping mechanisms. Doing well in school may actually be much more difficult for him than his older sibling for any number of reasons.</p>
<p>How about setting aside time every night after dinner as study time (I would see this as setting a guideline for him to achieve your expectations)? Ask older child to help more with post dinner clean up so you can be near younger child to go through upcoming assignments and tests. I imagine your son will balk at this quite loudly, but with time it could become a normal part of the schedule. It could start out as simply as the child spends a few minutes telling you about each class. </p>
<p>If you tell him you expect xy and z, and the penalties are losing whatever privileges, I imagine you will end up with a lot of penalties imposed. This is why I suggest providing guidelines for how to achieve the expectations. At 14, he probably still needs lots of guidance for how to do well in school. It came easily to your older child, but younger one seems like he needs really to learn how to learn. Sending him up to his room is not working. I think he probably needs more oversight while doing his homework, check lists for daily school responsibilities and access to a quiet, distraction free work space. </p>