Parents do not exactly get to pick who their children will be friends with for the rest of their lives. But they can certainly create boundaries and expectations that lead their children toward good and safe influences.
The truth is, no one is perfect. Even someone who is often described as a good kid has their faults. Parents must be wise and look at the actions of their children’s friends in addition to relying on what others have to say about them.
How Someone Who Is Described as a Good Kid Can Get Into Some Not Good Behaviors
Have you ever heard one of your kid’s friends described this way? Well, he smokes a little dope, he gives his parents some jazz, he skips school, and he sleeps around a lot, but he is basically a good kid. Listen closely. Nobody is basically good. Scripture affirms we are all basically evil—it’s just a matter of degree.
I realize that calling a kid good or bad is often a matter of semantics—and we would be wise to label behaviors rather than people—but that “good kid’ who is engaging in not so good qualities should have some ground-rules in place before he is allowed to spend a minute with our kids—if at all. That starts with making sure every time “that kid” and our kids are together we, like the Holy Spirit, are there also.
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