Operation Information
Have you ever wondered how to explain to a child the meaning of the word “Pandemic”? Or “Corona”? Or how to explain to a preschooler why everyone around him wears a face mask? We talked to Lt. Col. (res) Tali Versano Eisman, IDF Home Front Command media spokesperson, who has asked herself these questions every day since the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic:
23.01.21
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The IDF Home Front Command has set a goal for itself - to prepare the entire population in Israel for emergencies using public outreach campaigns. Children, who make up about a third of Israel’s population, are perhaps the most challenging audience to reach when it comes to such efforts - especially when the topic is a global pandemic.
Lt. Col. (res) Tali Versano Eisman, the Home Front Command Spokesperson, explained to us how the IDF is carrying out the campaign: “We need to adjust ourselves to the level of understanding of the children. There are a lot of difficult events that we experience here in Israel, and we must make them as user-friendly as possible for children of all ages to understand.”
Lt. Col. (res) Tali Versano Eisman
"We set up several activities to convey the different messages," Lt. Col. Versano explained. "We changed the sound of the school bells at several schools to songs that explain how to keep yourself safe, and we are using characters from cartoons that children are familiar with to teach them our tips and to share our messages. We created posters, board games, and even wrote some songs about COVID-19”.
One great thing that has helped children cope during the pandemic is the children's book written by Lt. Col. Versano that explains basic details about the pandemic. “It's a book from the child’s perspective about Corona. From the child’s point of view, they imagine a 'Dracorona' (a combination of the words 'Dragon' (Drakon in Hebrew) and 'Corona'). The book has been translated into many languages and distributed to Jewish communities around the world.”
'Dracorona' - the children's book written by Lt. Col. Versano
Many parents contacted the IDF Home Front Command to thank them for their significant efforts to explain the situation to their kids. “A lot of people have called. Everyone is going through a difficult time right now. Although there has been more optimism lately, and Corona is much more known now than before, it was very difficult at first to explain to children the logic behind keeping distance out of love,” Lt. Col. Versano concluded. She, and the entire Home Front Command, are at the forefront of the fight against the coronavirus in Israel. They are putting forward their best efforts to get the residents of Israel back to their everyday lives as quickly and safely as possible.
