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Ask & Answer | How to talk to children and students about coronavirus

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Graphic by Carol Bono

A reader asked: “What should we say if a student or family member of a student gets sick with coronavirus?”

All of our teachers are facing a lot of tough conversations.

Rely on this resource from the National Association of School Psychologists and the National Association of School Nurses:

Here is the information from the CDC, “Talking with children about Coronavirus Disease 2019: Messages for parents, school staff, and others working with children.”

This very specific language is from the CDC: “COVID-19 can look different in different people. For many people, being sick with COVID-19 would be a little bit like having the flu. People can get a fever, cough, or have a hard time taking deep breaths. Most people who have gotten COVID-19 have not gotten very sick. Only a small group of people who get it have had more serious problems. From what doctors have seen so far, most children don’t seem to get very sick. While a lot of adults get sick, most adults get better.”

Rockingham County Schools already have this mental health hotline up and running!

Please email me if you have other resources or suggestions on talking with students at mrash@ednc.org.