Long story short, you are right to be concerned about your teen's friend.
Friends are an extremely important influence in your teenager's life when there is extra pressure to be accepted.
Teens will become like their friends to some degree, and as a parent, that can be horrifying.
How can you encourage your teen to stop seeing this friend without building a wall between you and them? Talk it out The most ideal scenario is to talk to your teen about the friends flaws and where those flaws can lead.
If a friend is encouraging bad behavior, then they are not a real friend.
Your tone is very important.
Remember, you could be right, but if you are yelling, you will be wrong.
You should express your concern in a loving, gentle, and logical manner.
When parents and teens communicate, the teen will almost always act like the parents are wrong.
However, if you have expressed yourself in the right way with love and sound reason, a teen can reflect on that in the days to come.
Provide alternatives You can also make intentional times for your teen to be around people that you want them to be around.
Get them to some functions that are fun, yet positive.
Local churches are a great place to find that kind of support.
Invite other families over that have teens their age that are positive influences.
You don't need to tell your teen what you're doing.
It's always a good idea for you and them to get active in the community, and you should not make your teen feel like you are picking out better friends for them.
Forbid the friendship In certain situations, you can straight out, plain and simple forbid certain friendships.
You as a parent have that right.
However, this should be used as a last resort.
Forbidding a teen to do something can cause them to want to do that thing even more.
Do not approach them with an openly hostile tone.
Whatever happens, it is important that you do something and not let the situation stand.
You want to look back on your child's life and be able to say that you did everything you could do.
If you're looking for some positive influences for your teen, let them read Teenage Construction Zone, Trey's new book on how teens can build great foundations for their life by making positive decisions.