I have been thinking a lot about what we, as a society, can do to reduce the probability of future pandemics & their severity when they do occur. What I've stumbled upon is a recognition that we teach our children an incomplete picture of infectious diseases 1/n
We teach our children about infections as if they were chronic disease-entirely from a protect yourself framework. Don't eat that M&M you dropped on the floor, you might get sick. Wear your coat, you might catch cold. The focus is nearly always on the kid's or person's health 2/n
We rarely teach about preventing infection in others. Yes, we tell kids to cover their mouth when they sneeze/cough but we don't really say why. And when we have a child stay home from school, we couch it as being about them. 3/n
What we rarely say, is "we need you to protect others." Stay home so your class doesn't get sick. Wash your hands after you blow your nose so others don't get sick. The example we set is to go to work & power through illness, forgetting that doing so puts others at risk. 4/n
We've lost the sense of interdependence--our communal health. Infectious diseases are dependent happenings: my health affects your health, your health affects my health. We have to teach kids (& adults!) to care about their impact on others. Wishful thinking on a Tuesday morn 5/5
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