Learning Points: 'Help! I’m afraid my son is being led astray by bad friends'

My son has started to hang around with a bad crowd and I’m worried about him. I’m concerned he is being led astray. Last month I found alcohol in his room. When I confronted him about it his response really scared me. When I told my husband about his reaction he got into an even bigger row with him and he stormed out of the house and we didn’t see him until 1am that morning.

He tells us we are snobs and we don’t like his new friends because they’re not from our area. He recently did the Junior Cert and I’m worried he has failed most of the subjects. He has asked us if he can go camping with his new friends over the August holiday.