15-year-old with ADHD sent to juvenile detention for not keeping up with remote schoolwork

Backpack sits in school hallway.
(Image credit: iStock/Lincoln Beddoe)

It's fair to say a nationwide school shutdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic forced American students into an unexpected adjustment period. But for 15-year-old Grace, a rough transition landed her in juvenile detention for more than two months, ProPublica reports in a collaboration with the Detroit Free Press and Bridge Magazine.

Grace, who is Black, and her mother Charisse live in a mostly white suburb of Detroit, where schools closed in mid-March and remote learning began April 15. That monthlong break left Grace, who has ADHD, "unmotivated," and a lack of live instruction made it easy for her to get distracted, ProPublica writes. She would miss alarms in the morning, and ended up far behind on her work.

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Kathryn Krawczyk

Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.