Dear GG: My Daughter’s Best Friend Is A Bully

Should I try to end their friendship?

Dear GG,

I’m the proud mother of a lovely twelve-year-old girl. I guess I’m lucky because she is very well behaved and never gets in any trouble. However, I’m worried she has made a bad choice with a new friendship she has formed. Her new best friend is thirteen years old, and she seems to be the complete opposite of my daughter in terms of personality and behavior.

While my daughter is kind and gentle, this girl is brash and sometimes downright rude, even to adults. My daughter has admitted her friend gets in trouble at school for talking back to teachers. Apparently, her grades are lacking as well, and she’s been to the principal’s office several times for bullying other students.

To make matters worse, this friend has a habit of borrowing my daughter’s clothes and not returning them. She’s also constantly asking me to cook her something, even if I’m in the middle of doing something else. Though I definitely cannot prove it, I suspect that some of the food in our house has disappeared after she visits. There are times when she has more than overstayed her welcome, but she never wants to go home.

I also have another daughter who is eight years old. Sadly, my daughter’s best friend tries to exclude her…