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The Art of Not CaringBy Colleen Kidd

It is six oclock in the morning. Paula Hanson goes into her daughters roomto wake her up. After mustering the will power to open her eyes, Brittany slowly rolls

over and reaches for her purse, which is lying right next to her bed for easy access.She grabs it and pulls it towards her and immediately does her makeup. The rest ofthe morning proceeds in an ordinary fashion. She gets dressed and brushes her teethand hair, and then it is time for school.

My mom drives me to the bus stop because the driver has passed me uptwice, says Hanson. She drove right past me.

Brittany gets on the bus and she is off to Seneca High School where she willmark off another day of her junior year. The rest of her day is predictable. She goes toU.S. History, Algebra 2, Chorus, and then third lunch. After she spends her lunchtimejust walking around the school, she goes to Biology then English. At 2:20 p.m. shegets on the bus again and goes home.

It never switches up. We never do anything different, she complains. Whenpeople have arguments, I hope they get in a fight because thats something different.

When Brittany gets homeat three oclock sharpshe watches TV. Whenshe does not have to work, she hangs out with her friends. She doesnt do thehomework she gets almost every day.

I dont even think about school at all, in the slightest way. All I think about ishaving fun and living my life, Brittany explains.

A major part of her life, however, is her work. She works at a grocery storecalled ValuMarket three or four days a week. She usually works from 4:00 until about9:30.

She says, When I get off work, I just go home and try to get things done. Itake a shower, and if I have any homework and Iwant to do it, or if I have anythingthat I havent done, Ill do that.

Finally, at about 11:00, Brittany goes to sleep. Then, it starts again.Brittany gets a variety of grades in school. She gets one of each. Her best

grade is an A in Chorus. She explains this unusual grade by saying, Its not really thathard. All you have to do is sing.

But, most of her grades are below average. She does well on her tests, yet hergrades suffer. It is because of her lack of enthusiasm when it comes to the work andschool in general. The truth is, Brittany does not do well in school because she simplydoes not care.

I feel like I should already be done with it, she says. We already went overeverything. I know life is hard. I know all the things that I think I need to know in reallife.

This issue is common among students throughout JCPS. One of the problemsfacing JCPS as well as most of the country is the gap between the test scores of oneschool and those of another. One of the contributing factors to this issue could be thelack of motivation from the students who are required to take these tests. Accordingto a study conducted by Audrey L. Amrein and David C. Berliner, such tests actually

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decrease student motivation and increase the proportion of students who leaveschool early.

Brittany has absolutely no plans to go to college. Her plans for after shegraduates include taking a year off from everything but work and moving out of herparents house.

I plan to just chill, and then figure out how Im going to do what I want to do,and slowly work my way into it because Im tired.Her parents have never gone to college. Her mom works two jobs. They care

about her grades and that she finishes high school. People do succeed at Seneca, justnot her. The difference between her and those that excel in high school is, that shedoes not care, and that she is tired.

Im bored with it. Ive done enough. My time is over."