What does your family look like? I have a mom, a dad, two older brothers, two dogs and two cats. Yes, my animals are my family. I have plenty of friends at school who I consider my other family.

Today, 46 percent of U.S kids younger than 18 years of age are living in a home with two married heterosexual parents in their first marriage. In 1960 it was 73 percent, 1980 was 61 percent.

Single parents account for 27 percent of family households with children under 18. One in two children will live in a single parent family at some point in their childhood. Nearly half of all marriages end in divorce. Now you probably won’t understand what I mean by this, but family is a relative thing. Now, let me explain. Kids nowadays are connecting less and less with their actual families and spending more time with their friends. This is why I say family is relative. Friends can be family, animals can be family, heck, even teachers could be family. Family can be whatever you want it to be. What does your family look like?

The problem is some kids don’t have a family that supports them. Their family may not be stable, they may have family members who drink or do drugs, they might get beat or they don’t get any attention. So who do they turn to? Their friends, their animals, their teachers. They create their family of choice. They choose to spend more time with them than their actual families. They choose their friends over their family because their friends will give them attention, they will care for them, they include them in things. Friends will take care of each other.

I need you all to connect with your families of choice. Support everyone of your members. Your mom, your dad, brothers, sisters, friends, teachers, even your pets. Support them all. If you see someone struggling; help them. Talk to them, do things with them, bring them back up; make their day. Don’t sit and watch them struggle more and more. Do your part and help them.

This is important to all of us because, school as a school, is a family. And within school there are many different families. Each one has different kids, with different struggles. None of them asked for their issues, but all of them deal with it. What does your family look like?