Here's what some kids believe about getting sick...What do you think?
When they get sick, they think that it's because they:
- didn't listen to their mothers or fathers.
- had bad thoughts.
- were mad at their sisters or their brothers.
- told a lie.
- took things that didn't belong to them.
- caught some germs from kids who were sick.
But the truth of it all is this...most of the time getting sick just happens! Not because of anything that kids do, or think of doing, or dream of doing...it just happens. And it happens to most everybody at some time or other, though most kids don't get the kind of sickness that hangs around for a very long time. Of course, everybody CAN catch colds, and chickenpox, and some other normal, every day sicknesses, so it's easy to see why kids get confused about how it all happens. What they CAN'T catch, though, are most of the problems that last a long time, and those are the problems that these pages are all about!
Joan
Fleitas, Ed.D.
Associate Professor of Nursing,
Lehman College, CUNY
Bronx, New York 10468
Last updated: November 14, 2004