I know what I’d do but I’m doubting that the mother has the will or work-ethic to do what should be done:
1) Strip her bedroom clean of anything “fun”. Pretty much leave her with nothing but clothes and bedding. Then box it all up and put it where she can’t get to it.
2) Set up a computer in a common area of the house with software set up that only allows access to the school’s intranet. This is very easy to do.
3) Physically collect any devices that can connect to the internet OR configure your wi-fi to prevent them from accessing the internet. I have software that allows me this kind of control over my wi-fi. I can shut down access of anything to my home wi-fi system, by device: my daughter’s computer, her tablet, any Roku streaming devices, cell phones, ANYTHING that connects to wi-fi. If you have cable or satellite TV, remove the cable between the box and the TV.
4) Sit her down in front of the computer and tell her that she has the choice of doing her school work or she can sit there and stare at the four walls from 8 AM until bedtime. Let her know that going to another room to use a computer or watch TV is worthless, it’s all disabled.
I had to do options 2, 3, and 4 for a short time with my 12 year old daughter. She blew off schoolwork and I didn’t know it until I started getting e-mails from teachers. Luckily my daughter was a lot easier to bring around and wifey and I have been on telework for a few months, so we were home to actually enforce it. I made sure to tell her a few times, “Want me off your ass? Then do what’s right. That’s a life-lesson there. If you don’t take care of your business, it’s going to be a bad ride when somebody else steps in to do it for you. For me as an adult, that means getting the car repo’d, foreclosure on the house, being fired for screwing off at work, you name it. That is life.”
The biggest problem is that it’s obvious mom has gave up long ago and is too lazy to take any control back. No dad around is a problem you can’t fix (the article has the word “mother” sprinkled generously through the article, the word “dad” or “father” does not appear at all). If she’s the type to just run out of her house and go to a friend’s house (she probably is), mom is probably too slow to catch her and too lazy to even try. Sorry to say, jail may be the only motivator to do what’s right.
Definitely at this point what you would do is what it would take to get this girl back. It’s a shame that this mother doesn’t have the drive and the father isn’t around to back it up. Glad your daughter turned it around because she had parents who cared.