Need help - drugs and bad group of friends

[Nay103]

My near 14 year old hung out with a bad group last year. As soon as he started hanging out with him his attitude changed. I found out he had drunk and smoked a number pot a number of times. He got into a fight with a younger boy which went on social media. He had a break from this group and he went back to his normal self. He went back to hanging out with this group when school went back and we are back to walking on egg shells because he is so angry. I believe (or I could be gullible) that he last smoked about 4 weeks ago. He is disrespectful to me and physical with my younger boy when he stirs him. Treats me like he doesn’t like me. I’ve now been told by a number of people that the group he is hanging with some are dealing pot. The problem is he is so into this group. I’ve pushed him into sport 3 afternoons a week plus sport on Saturday. I think I need to limit his time to weekends only with group as I believe he is will rebel if I try to stop him totally. I’m a single mum. I cant call on his dad as he is verbally threatening. It’s been on and off problems now for 9 months. I’m struggling. He knows he has anger but doesn’t want me to get any help for him. I need some help and guidance of what to do or who I can see. Thanks

[TOM-RO]

Hi @Nay103 thanks so much for sharing with us. It sounds like that's a really difficult situation and you're trying your best as a parent. I understand it must be difficult to do this as a single parent. I would feel similarly worried if my child was using drugs at that age and it makes sense to want to separate your son from this group. I think you're going about it in a tactful way by still allowing him to see them but encouraging him to make new friends in these sporting groups. It sounds like you've put lots of thought into how to best handle this, but it makes sense to want extra support.

If you're from Australia and want some extra support I would recommend that you call ParentLine. They offer free and confidential counselling and support to parents and carers on any parenting issues they may be facing. The number for Parentline differs per state. Scroll to the bottom of this page to see which number to call if you're interested. 

I've tagged some parents who regularly use this forum as they usually provide great support to our users. @PapaBill @JAKGR8 @compassion @sunflowermom @JohnT @Maruko 

Please keep us updated on how things go 

[HFK80]

I am having nearly exactly the same issue with my 14 year old daughter..how has the last year been since your post?