How schools can cope during a pandemic

By now, we are all familiar with the new coronavirus, or COVID-19, and have suddenly learned more about epidemiological terms like vectors, latency periods, and mortality rates than we ever thought we would. And if we adults are getting worried about a pandemic, it’s a safe bet that our kids are getting worried, too.

At times like these, I’m reminded of the wise words of one of my childhood heroes, Mister Rogers. He once said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'”

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That’s good advice generally, but in the case of coronavirus, it means something particularly profound. Something a lot of us forget to do, even as adults is to “look for the experts.”

Tune out the talking heads, alarmist trolls, and social media chatter, and listen very carefully to what public health experts like Dr. Nancy Messonier of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are saying–that there is indeed, cause for concern–but not to panic.