The pandemic has been compelling us to change our ways – and our kids are no exception. They would still need to go to public places and it is inevitable that they will have to meet people in the future. But we have to help them adapt to the current practices to keep our communities healthy and safe. Here we will share with you some tips on how to teach your kids to cover their mouth when coughing.
1. Tell them why they need to cover their mouth when coughing. Just like adults, kids are more motivated to follow routine instructions when they see the importance of it. No need to use highfalutin words or scientific terminologies that are not helpful in their level of understanding. Just remember to tell them this in ways that they will understand.
For example 1: Remember how small cough virus made you sick? Those cough virus also want to make other people sick. It does not feel good to be sick, right? We do not want other people to feel that way, too. That’s why we stop the cough virus from coming out from us by covering our mouth when we cough.
Example 2: When we eat healthy food and take medicine, our body beats those cough virus so that they will not make other people sick, too. So when they are weak already, they might want to escape from our bodies and flee to another body to make that person sick. But we will not let that happen! We will defeat the cough virus in our own body and that will be the end of them! We just have to cover our mouth when coughing so that they do not escape while our bodies beat them completely.
Teach your kids, how to use a Tissue-
When you notice yourself coughing frequently, make sure to bring with you a bunch of tissues wherever you go – whether it is inside your home with your family or in public places with your friends. Cover your mouth and nose with the tissue when coughing and dispose of it immediately. Remember to use new tissue paper every time you cough for good hygiene and for less chances of your cough to worsen. Never cough on your hands! You might not be aware of it, but you might touch another person or a commonly held object (i.e. railings, doorknobs) which will result to leaving your cough virus for other people to contract. The last thing we want to do is to spread our cough, so remember to never cough on your hands!
Teach your kids to use their Elbow-
When you do not have a handkerchief and you feel like coughing, it is better to cough on your elbow than on your hands. Your elbow makes less contact with your environment compared to your hands, so that also makes transmission less plausible. Simply tuck your nose and mouth into the crook of your elbow when you cough. Make sure to wash your elbow when you get the chance!
Teach your kids to use their Shirt-
If you do not have a handkerchief and if you can not use your elbows to cough on, you can use the inside of your shirt instead. Just gently lift the collar of your shirt and cough on the inside part of the cloth. Even if this is the least recommended out of the three, it is still useful in trapping the virus and preventing it from flying towards other people. Make sure to take a warm bath at the end of the day to clean your body!
I am going to protect my community by covering my mouth when coughing because I know how hard it is to get sick and I do not want them to feel this, too.
Our efforts, small and big, will eventually add up and we will see that it is all worth it.
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