The prompt is: “Should people make more of an effort to keep some things private?” written in 25 minutes
I believe that people should make more of an effort to keep some things private respective to the situations which they face. The necessity of keeping some things private is dependent upon the circumstances which a person may encounter. As made evident in history and my own personal life experiences, there are both cons and pros to keeping certain things private. Each situation called for a different response and level of confidentiality which resulted in either negative or positive results.
The negative effect of keeping some things private is exemplified in the Nixon Watergate Scandal. During Nixon’s term as president, a scandal arose amidst the American people, causing them to formulate ideas of mistrust between themselves and their government. When brought before the Supreme Court of the United States, Nixon attempted to use his executive power to make private his wrongdoings. In doing so, his public opinion ratings fell to record lows, and for the first time in American history, the honourable seat of the presidency lay shattered in the seat of hidden, shameful wrongdoing. Nixon aimed to keep private his iniquity before the American public, and before the rule of law. For this reason, he was charged with obstruction of justice, and nearly was impeached from his seat in the presidency. In attempting to keep his wrongdoing private, he crafted the pathway which would lead to his own demise.
There are, however, some positives which can arise from keeping some things private. In my own life experience of volunteering at a hospice center, we make every effort to ensure the privacy of our patients. This is called patient confidentiality in healthcare and is done to ensure that the private health information of the patient is not exposed to the open public. In this instance, confidentiality is of the essence, for trust in the doctor-patient relationship is fundamental to ensuring proper care of the patient. Should the doctor-patient relationship deteriorate due to a violation of the patient’s privacy, there would be a lesser likelihood of them sharing their personal health history due to the sensitive nature of the information. For conditions that might be stigmatizing, such as reproductive, sexual, public health, and psychiatric health concerns, confidentiality assures that private information will not be disclosed to family or employers without their consent. In this instance, it is necessary for some things to be kept private, and those in the healthcare field make every effort to ensure that this privacy is upheld.
In some instances, keeping things private would detrimental to the situation, yet in others it is fundamental to ensuring a positive result. As seen in the Nixon Watergate Scandal, and the healthcare code of patient confidentiality, the necessity of keeping certain things private is entirely dependent upon the situations which people face. People should make more of an effort to keep some things private respective to the current circumstance before them.