I don't like my teen's friends. Is there anything I can do?
It's much easier to monitor your child's friendships when they're attending primary school. At that age they're still far more likely to tell you more about their mates and, for the most part, they still really care about what you think. When combined with their reliance on you getting them to where they want to go as well as stronger parent networks that exist in the primary years, it becomes a lot easier for you to keep your child away from other children that you simply don't like that much. Finding your teen beginning to hang out with a new group of friends can happen at anytime and be due to a range of reasons, most of which parents have little or no control over, but it is when they make the transition to secondary school that you're likely to see the biggest change. This is a time that requires all students (whether new to the school or not) to establish new peer groups. A significant number of new students enter the year group and there's a change in...