Friend on a down spiral

Dear Amy: I am a sophomore in high school. I recently reconnected with a friend I was close to last year.

Over the summer, our friendship sort of fell apart.

This year, he has found new friends, and our brief talk the other day was the most contact we had in months. He has gotten into partying. He shows up high to school almost every day. He is also on academic probation and has gotten more detentions than I can count.

His parents don’t really care about any of this. I think the administration has done what it can, but he’s not listening to his counselor.

I’d still like to do something to help him. I’d be grateful for any thoughts.

Concerned

Dear Concerned: If your parents know your friend and his parents, they might have some ideas. Ask them.

It might open the door a bit to say, “Sometimes I worry about what’s going on. It seems like you’ve changed a lot. I hope you feel like you can talk about stuff if you want to.”

Send questions to Amy Dickinson by e-mail to [email protected].