Something I’ve been wondering lately: how do COVID-aware parents talk to their kids about institutional gaslighting? You can teach your kids about the importance of respirators and ventilation and cleaning the air, but how do you explain why most other people tend to think none of those things are really necessary, and no one in charge is telling people otherwise?
I’d love to hear about how different parents navigate that with their different-aged kids, if anyone feels like sharing.
My kids are 9 and 11 and as far as I'm concerned they're mature enough to read about it themselves. My wife and I read a lot of studies in journals and they understand how we feel about the subject because we discuss it in front of them. Then when articles come out that summarize the science we give them the links and let them read. Recent articles they've read include:
https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/covid-19-disrupts-gut-microbiome
From there they come to their own conclusions and generally want to discuss it with us from time to time. It leads to terrific discussions about capitalism, society as a whole, poverty and wealth, risk management, etc.
Being up to date with things has put them in a situation where they feel comfortable about what they're doing to avoid COVID and as things stand today they wouldn't have it any other way even if we wanted them to.
