You’ve mention before that Alfred hangs out with the wrong group....how does that group act and how will his parents handle/fix that? Thank you!
Yeah, Alfred strikes me as the type of person who would probably seek out trouble in his teen years. He’s easily enticed by the idea of being one of the “cool kids” and fitting in with his peers, even if that means doing things he’s not comfortable with and going against what he believes in. It starts out innocently enough — he starts staying out late with a group of friends like every teen and gets in trouble a few times for making Arthur and Francis worry. Then, being a part of said group leads to underage drinking, disappearing without giving anyone any word as to where he is, grades slipping, vaping, and getting a fake ID.
Arthur and Francis have a threshold for how much teenage rebellion they’ll tolerate and let slide. Staying out late a few times here and there isn’t something they’ll make that much of a fuss over, but once they find out about everything else, and Matthew accidentally lets slip the kinds of friends Alfred has at school, that’s when they know it’s time to step in. Because Arthur is experienced when it comes to rebelling in one’s youth, he’ll first sit Alfred down and try to have a serious talk with him about why it’s important to surround yourself with friends who are going to support you rather than drag you down. He’ll share some personal stories of his own and try to reason with him. He’ll explain that he’s not grounding Alfred and keeping him away from his friends simply to be mean, but because he’s trying to protect him since he knows what it’s like to be around negative influences.
Arthur and Francis will give him an earlier curfew, limit where he can go, and ask for more details about where he’s going and whom he’ll be with in the future. They’ll give Alfred an opportunity to win back their trust once his grades improve and he shows that he can follow the rules they’ve set for him.
But eventually, Alfred matures and it stops being an issue because he finds new, real friends and his interests change. He leaves that all behind in high school.
You’re very welcome! 💕
