After screaming into the void about the desperate need for massive testing and rapid social isolation, we are now living that quarantine life. Like many parents I am trying not to terrify my child (and myself), but unlike many parents I will not sugarcoat things. Especially after spending decades talking about how our political leaders are failing us, I am not going to lie about the fact that we are all suffering now because those failures have come home to roost. And kids need to understand how this works so that they can act to protect themselves and everyone around them.

I know my child thinks I am going a little overboard with this quarantine business, so showed him a few visuals to help him understand. These were the most helpful things we looked at.

1. Washington Post simulator showing the difference in infections between different policies such as partial quarantine and social distancing. washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/
2. The now-ubiquitous #FlattenTheCurve chart show how rapid spread will overwhelm the medical system. This available everywhere, we looked at vox.com/2020/3/10/21171481/coronavirus-us-cases-quarantine-cancellation
3. A young man from Wuhan’s TikTok videos that show his experience in Wuhan (start at the last one). tiktok.com/@danielouyang