The assignment to describe your family assumes the answer feels safe to share.

For many children the honest answer is not shareable. A parent who is absent, ill, in prison, or a household that is unstable or unsafe, and the task requires either a lie or an exposure in front of everyone they know. The assignment is warm in intent and lands as a demand for disclosure.

If you set anything like this, offer an alternative from the start rather than on request, since asking for one is itself a disclosure. Frame it as anyone you live with or anyone who matters to you. Small changes to the wording remove most of the problem.