Over the last week, I’ve seen an increase in kids (and adults!!) who are worrying about coronavirus. The concerns about the coronavirus aren’t so different from other (what I call) “existential” worries - gun violence, global warming, politics. Kids know just enough of what’s going on to know that there is a real danger without the actual ability to mitigate that danger fully. So, I have parents asking me, “What do I tell X about corona? He’s afraid to go out.”

I was just about to post an article on my thoughts, when I discovered an excellent article from Seattle Children’s Hospital (incidentally also where I completed my residency and fellowship) about what to do. This article focuses on the coronavirus specifically, but I think the approach of gathering facts, answering questions (without reassuring or making impossible promises), and assuming normal daily life is pretty much spot on:

Link to article here