Do you know what it feels like to have an intense fear of going home because you don’t know what mood your parents are going to be in? Do you know what it feels like to have pain constantly reminding you that you haven’t eaten dinner in two days? Do you know what it’s like to live in a house that makes the Warsaw Ghetto look like the Palace of Versailles? Do you know what it feels like to cry yourself to sleep because you don’t know if your dying dad will ever call you his “little angel” again? If you’ve ever gone through any of these things, I am truly and deeply sorry. If you haven’t, consider yourself lucky. Consider yourself lucky that while you might not get the pair of boots you wanted, someone else might be working sixty hours every week just to put food on the table. We should consider ourselves lucky that we have parents who support our decisions. It is proven that parental encouragement can improve grades and raise self-esteem. Abusive or absent parents don’t encourage their kids. So where does that leave those kids?