Corporal Punishment

[Starr Polish]

I think even as a child ages, if they aren't one who is particularly rebellious, disappointing parents is still a pretty big factor.

I'm currently eighteen and am trying ready to leave home, and it's been hard on both my mother and me. I want to leave, but she doesn't really want to let go yet, I think. However, even as I was growing up through high school and becoming more independent, there are a lot of things I didn't do because I didn't want to disappoint her or my father. Heh...in fact, the only reason I actually bucked up and studied for my harder subjects in high school was because my parents always got on me about my grades and said "We KNOW you're smarter than this, you just need to turn in your homework..."...and it worked.

I'm still afraid of disappointing them, to a point. This doesn't mean I'm not going to go out and live my life the way I want to, but it means I'm going to be trying my damn hardest to make it through college and possibly grad school (no one in my "original family unit" has finished a four year school).