*Cupcake* said:
That was my first reaction - but then I thought about it and decided she'd done absolutely the right thing. She must have known she was risking a friendship too, so she can't have taken much pleasure out of it. But if it was apparent to her that the boy had a habit, and his mother wasn't prepared to do anything about it, telling the boy to stop wouldn't have achieved anything. The mother would have told her not to interfere, she'd have lost a friend anyway, and the boy would have carried on smoking. At least by going to social services, the mother and boy were both given the help they clearly needed.
It takes a brave friend to do what's best rather than what's easiest.
The poor child!
