Tips for Teens and Parents When Kids' Friends are Bad Influences

Our children and teens deserve to have friends. But what can parents do when those friends are a bad influence? Supervising your child's friendships can be a difficult task and one area that many parents won't even dare to venture into. We don't want to pick our child's friends, but yet we fear that certain friends may lead our children down a destructive path - one laden with drugs, sex, alcohol, violence and crime.

Parents often assume that their children will make the right decision when faced with a difficult choice and many often do. But then there are those who follow the crowd and succumb to the demands of peer pressure. I want to tell you, my readers about two friend related experiences I had as a teenager that may help you understand how friends influence your children and why you should get to know your child's friends.

I met a new girl at school when I was fifteen. She was a year older than me. We had a lot in common, so I thought and quickly became friends. We both loved animals especially riding horses. She owned a couple of horses and invited me to go riding with her. My mother gave her permission so I went. My new friend begged me to stay the night at her house and my mother finally gave in. Everything seemed to go fine until my new friend woke me up at three in the morning to go riding. I didn't want to go. It was the middle of the night and I was tired. I felt uneasy but I didn't suspect that she had something else planned.

Although I repeatedly said I didn't want to go my friend was insistent. She kept saying how much fun it would be. I finally got up and agreed to go. As we prepared to leave the house my friend cautioned me to be quiet so as not to wake her mother. As we rode down the path we got further away from the house. My friend insisted there was nothing to worry about since she went there all the time. Soon we spotted two figures. As we got closer I could see that it was two males who looked to be in their mid to late twenties. I'm sure by now you can figure out what my friend had planned.