On The Pros and Cons of Public Disclosure Of Private Information By Morénike Onaiwu
I saw a post online that motivated me to write this. A lot of my thoughts are largely derived from a statement I drafted last year in a private group. I'm writing today to share some food for thought for those families who are considering the pros and cons of whether or not to publicly disclose intimate details about a minor child, such as issues related to personal hygiene, "aggressive" behavior, sexual orientation, HIV status, sensitive matters about an adopted or foster child's family of origin, etc. This whole disclosure thing has been discussed many times. There are many different ways to handle different situations. However, I need to speak up about this today. Because "different" does not equal bad. And it sure as heck does not equal SHAME. My family has made our personal choices. WITH OUR CHILDREN'S BLESSINGS we disclose SOME things publicly about ourselves, while others remain more private matters. In some areas, we have told family, all close f...