Does One Bad Friend Equal Disaster?

My husband was watching one of those intervention-type shows where a grown man was undergoing another round of treatment for drug addiction.  He was a life-long meth addict who had not only destroyed his own life, but the lives of all who loved him.  The part that caught my ear as I was folding laundry was his mother.  She was talking about how her son was always a good boy, got good grades, and was on the right track.  Then he met another kid who introduced him to the drug world.

"That's the thing," said mom, "no matter what you do, one bad friend can destroy your kid's life."

I got the chills that moment.  One bad kid?  How do I recognize a bad kid?  Do they behave only when people are looking and then whip out the crack pipe when you go get milk & cookies?  I started to sweat.  My husband realized the mistake he made having this show on within my earshot.

"Stop obsessing.  Daniel (our oldest) isn't even 7 yet."

Stop obsessing?  STOP OBSESSING?  Does he even know me?

I quickly started running through the boys' friends.  They all seemed okay, but it's hard to tell this early, right?  Should I run a background check on their families for substance abuse?  Can I come up with a form?  Would the parents be willing to submit to random drug screens? 

Now my husband turned off the t.v.

"I can hear your brain from over here.  Stop.  Now."

Maybe we can plan a trip to jail so the boys understand where drug addiction can lead?  Or we can home school!  Yes!  That's the ticket.  We'll home school!

"We're not home-schooling."

"I didn't say anything," I countered.

"I know how your brain works."

So now I'm left obsessing about my kids having "one bad friend" that could undermine the values we're teaching and the aspirations we have for our sons.

"Relax," said my husband, "they're probably not even going to have any friends with a mom like you."

From his lips to God's ears....