I know that times change and while some things stay the same, children and their reactions to the world around them, often do not. In my childhood divorce was a dirty word. One friend was afraid to tell me her parents were getting divorced because she thought I might not want to be her friend anymore. Sounds trivial nowadays yet back then it was a very real concern. But youth today have grown up too fast (or had to grow up too fast) and I’ve even heard some kids act embarrassed because their parents were still married when all their friends came from broken homes.

Which makes me wonder, what kinds of things about their family would a 5th/6th grader today want to be kept a secret today? I know that in a book a case can be made for almost anything to work but I am thinking on a broader scale, youth at large.

Does it matter if they have a parent can’t read or write? What if someone from the family is in jail? Does the type of crime matter? Are they embarrassed about where they live? Does a parent’s job carry the power to embarrass?

And then, do these answers change based on the child’s socio-economic class?