C.B.
Hi E.,
I agree with Julie S. My son had a friend last year who I thought was a bad influence, but my son considered him his "best friend", so I invited him over for some playdates & it turned out that he had a really good heart, he's just had a really tough 6 years of life. When this boy was at my house, I stayed with him & my son while they played so I could keep an eye on his behavior & explain to him what the rules of our house are & why. He did surprisingly well while in my care, and now shows me more respect when I see him at birthday parties. When the boys played at recess, I would always encourage my son to speak his mind & stand up for what he knows is right. If he chose to follow along in something the other child was doing wrong, I would tell my son he would have to face the consequences of his actions. I would not let him blame the other child for his influence in the situation, because I told my son that he is responsible for his own behavior. This year, I did request that the two boys not be in the same class, because I felt that the other child's behavior was too much of a distraction to my son during class time. The two boys started off this year still playing together at recess, but since they are now in different classes, they are starting to drift apart, and my son considers another boy his "best friend" now. I'm glad that our first experience with a troubled child came at so young an age, because there were some very good lessons that we all learned from it, and hopefully my son will remember to take responsibility for his own actions as he gets older, and will not be easily influenced into more harmful behavior like drinking & drugs some day. I hope some of our experience can help you.
Good luck, and just keep doing the best that you can,
C. : )