Night to Shine PSA

Parents of Warren Township students, Parents of WHRHS students: 

Tomorrow night is "Night to Shine", a prom for disabled young people. 

Across the nation churches, in tandem with the Tim Tebow Foundation, will be hosting this event, with the help of local student, youth and adult volunteers. There are several NJ locations, including one right here in Warren. Some of your children may be volunteering as greeters, as buddies, as makeup artists, etc... For that, we say "Thank you". 

Please, remind your children that as they volunteer tomorrow, they may see peers of theirs or siblings of peers from school in attendance as guests. Please, remind them that as volunteers, they have a responsibility to respect the privacy of those attendees. Many of those young people have not disclosed their diagnoses. Many of those young people fear being "outed".  And some of those young people, my son included, are forever wary of taking part in programs like these that are built to benefit them, for fear that they will be recognized and find themselves the victims of social media "sharing". 

Please, sit down with your children and young adults and commend them on their choice to volunteer their time to such a worthwhile cause.  Please let them know how deeply we, the parents and families of those attending, appreciate their willingness to give of themselves.  Please praise their efforts in creating this time and space of acceptance and inclusion and celebration.  And please, reiterate our hope that your expectation will be that they will respect the privacy of all attendees and not use their cellphones or their mouths to "out" the attendees. 

Our family, and the families of those attending tomorrow night, ask that you remind your children that it is not their right to disclose information about those attending to anyone, least of all their peers and schoolmates. 

Thank you. 

And please feel free to share widely.  

#nighttoshine #disabilityawareness #disabilityacceptance