To answer your question, I would want my sons friend to talk to my son about it. telling an authority figure that has little concern for you as a person is much less likely to cause a permanent change in behavior and attitude, obedience out of fear is futile and a waste of everyones time and effort, didn't we already vote against that method.
In the 3 cases of snitching that I was personally aware of, love and concern for the person being turned into the HCO had almost nothing to do with the reason for snitching,