Kids? What to do?

Okay, so I don't have kids. BUT i do have a younger brother and i feel like he is my child, even though he is now 15 years old (so no longer little). I have been watching over him when it comes to school because my parents are somewhat out of the loop on how it all works. Since i have been through the whole school system they leave it to me to make sure my brother is doing what he needs to be doing and going in the right direction for college. NOW my problem is that i don't actually know how to deal with kids, or teenagers. My brother is not doing so well in school since he started high school, he gets C's and D's in a lot of his classes and F's as well. He is not a dumb kid, he just doesn't put forth any effort. I took away XBOX and have been checking his homework to make sure he is doing it, and i have even sent out progress report sign sheets for his teachers to write every week so that i know if he is doing his work in class. So my question for folks is how do i encourage him to do well in school? I know school can be hard and sometimes boring but he needs to get through it. How do i make it fun and interesting for him, and how do i encourage him to do better? I need help here, how do i get around to my brother feeling more involved at school and doing better in his classes? Im just looking for ideas here i know that there is no expert on teenagers but if you feel like you are PLEASE HELP!!!

Jumping for joy

So I am sure everyone knows that our government has caught and killed Osama Bin Laden much to the great joy of America. I am not going to say that I am disappointed that he was caught I am not. I am glad that he was caught, I am glad that the people of 9/11 have some justice. I AM disappointed that he was killed and never brought to trial so that people would be able to confront him, although I'm sure capturing him would have been more difficult then just murdering him, but this is not really the point of my blog. I am VERY disappointed with the actions of fellow Americans when the news came out about him being dead. I have never really seen people jump for joy in the streets for someones murder, at least not widely spread through our media. Even people who are put to death in our society through our justice system do not get that. When i saw people holding signs saying "Ding Dong Osamas dead" i was more then a little shocked or disturbed. When did it become okay to rejoice in murder? I understand the need to be happy that justice was finally had, but instead of rejoicing in murder the thought should have gone to those killed and injured in 9/11 and a memorial in their honor, not in Osamas. I feel that with this show we have now given ammunition for another retaliation. How do you feel about the events surrounding the death of Osama, do you think that we represented American well with our praise the death of another? Any thoughts on the subject are fine, if you agree or disagree i have been argued with about this subject and i would LOVE to hear what the rest of the class thinks. No sarcasm i really want to know what people think about this.