Kids and COVID-19: The New Coronavirus Lexicon
Talking about coronavirus with children through media can be a difficult task. It may be tougher for them to understand what is going on in the world, given the new vocabulary that is now regularly used. Recent research has found that children (ages 9-13) who knew fewer facts about COVID-19 were more likely to report being very worried about the virus than those who were more informed (Götz et al., 2020). Young children would therefore benefit from receiving more age-appropriate information from both parents and media. In fact, 65% of children around the world reported wanting to learn more about the virus through children’s television (Götz et al., 2020).
It’s important to explain what’s going on in simple, accurate terms. To help you tackle this in your programming, here are some child-friendly definitions of widely used words related to COVID-19:
Click here to download this list as a handout for your writer’s room
Virus: A type of tiny germ that can make you sick if it gets inside your body through your nose, mouth, or eyes.
Coronavirus: A group of viruses that can make people sick. COVID-19 is the newest coronavirus that is making people sick.
A pandemic happens when a sickness spreads quickly between many people all around the world.
Wearing a mask helps stop germs from entering your body and making you sick. Doctors and nurses wear them because they work with lots of sick patients and it keeps them healthy. When you wear a mask, you are being a hero by keeping yourself and your friends safe from germs.
Social distancing: Also called physical distancing. Putting space in between you and others, because germs can spread between people if they are very close. Sometimes you can’t tell if other people are sick, so it’s important to stay far apart (6 feet) from people that you don’t live with, so that you don’t share germs or get sick.
You can social distance by standing farther apart from others, and by staying home from school.
Adults need to practice social distancing too, unless they work somewhere where they have to help people up close. Then, they need to keep as much distance as possible and wear a mask.
Quarantine is staying at home to help you and your family stay healthy. Stay home as much as you can to keep yourself and others healthy. If someone you know gets sick with COVID-19, they quarantine by staying at home and away from others.
Essential workers are people who need to work during the pandemic because their jobs help the world run. For example, we still need doctors and nurses, scientists, grocery store workers, people who make and serve food, police officers, and firefighters to do their jobs during this time.
Symptomatic, Asymptomatic: Someone who is symptomatic shows symptoms, or signs of, sickness (e.g., coughing, sneezing, having a hard time breathing). Someone who is asymptomatic does not show symptoms - even though you can’t tell that they are sick, they can still spread germs and make others sick.
Being immunocompromised means that someone’s body has a harder time fighting sicknesses when germs enter their body. They need to be extra careful so that they don’t get sick.
“Flattening the curve” means slowing down how fast the sickness spreads to other people. If the virus takes longer to spread to other people, hospitals will have more time and resources to help the people who get sick.
Think of taking turns to get help in class or to use a video game, because there are only so many teachers, controllers, etc. Or, only one family member getting the flu at a time, so that there is always a doctor to take care of the person who is sick (instead of everyone getting sick all at once and not having enough doctors to help them all).
CDC: Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC is a large group of people that work to stop diseases from spreading in the United States. The CDC works with scientists and doctors to help keep everyone healthy (e.g., by sending information and updates about COVID-19, like wearing masks and washing hands).
WHO: World Health Organization. The WHO is a large group of people that works to stop diseases from spreading around the world.
Definitions derived from usage in widespread pandemic coverage and adapted for children’s understanding.
Page Spencer and Jane Lurie
CSS Interns