Hello,
Over the last few months it has become apparent that the 16 year old lad next door and his friends have got themselves into drugs. The first time I overheard them talking, I was shocked to say the least. They know all the terminology and whenever his parents are out they all congregate there and smoke cannabis. I have also overheard them talking about taking pills which I assume must be ecstasy. These lads have only just done their GCSE's this year - they are not even old enough to drink or smoke cigarettes but they seem to know an awful lot about illegal substances. I'm not a fuddy duddy - I know teenagers experiment and try things (I did!) but the way they talk, it sounds like it's gone beyond a bit of a dabble, they even refer to their 'dealer'.
There was one night last month when the parents were away and this group of lads were sat in the garden all night talking the only kind of rubbish that comes from drug taking. The next morning our garden was littered with spliff ends that had been thrown over the hedge so my husband got the biggest, fattest one and took it back, had a word about the noise and handed him the spliff back, asking if he would stop throwing drugs paraphenalia into our garden. The lad was absolutely mortified because obviously, he knows that we know what is going on.
I've been wrestling with my conscience, I really felt his parents ought to know, if it was me, I would want to know. We saw his dad in the pub the other day and he was talking about what a good, sensible lad he was and I just blurted it out - I told him he needed to keep an eye on him as we had become aware that he has been doing cannabis and ecstasy with his mates. He was extremely shocked (as you would be) and my husband went absolutely mental with me for telling him, he said they will never speak to us again and that I should have kept my mouth shut.
Now I am experiencing all sorts of emotions, should I have been honest or should I have kept it shut. I really don't know.
Did I do the right thing? What would you have done, would you want to know?