Question
My 14-year-old son started in a new, academically-driven private school for high school. He became friends immediately with his peer group on the football team and we've allowed him some new freedom to hang out at their homes and spend the night a couple of times. We made it clear to him that this is his opportunity to choose the right friends from the start, because in middle school he had some undesirable friends that we would not allow him to hang out with. He has always been an excellent student and athlete, but hasn't had much of a social life outside of school since we restricted his friendships.
Recently, we found out that our son was drinking at one of the new friend's homes, and that several of these new football friends have poor reputations.
I am at a loss for how to deal with this latest dilemma. I don't want to restrict friendships forever, but clearly he is not responsible in this area. I think the drinking itself is an isolated event, but he was bragging about it to some old friends at church, and they expressed concern that this is his new normal (thinking that drinking is cool). I'm concerned that continuing with these new friendships will lead to more undesirable behavior.
