My 12 year old daughter has moved schools for year 7. There is a 13-year-old in her class that I am quite concerned about. My daughter has autism and is pretty immature for her age, so she is the type to be easily swayed by others. We also live in an asian country so parents are generally stricter.
I have seen the girl talk back to teachers in more than one occasion in online meetings, posts depressing, mature things on social media, swears, and is generally a bad influence.
I have banned my 12 yo from talking to her due to the reasons I listed above, and tried to make her unfollow her on social media. My 12yo is adamant not to unfollow said girl and this led to an argument. I refused to let her stay behind in the library to "study" with this girl, like what if they didn't end up actually in the library at all?
However, my daughter told me that the girl has been including her in her friend's group and is helping her settle in. SHe said she made her feel safe in the new environment and is encouraging. The even bigger problem is that my 12 year old kind of idolizes that particular girl, which is really problematic.