Jan Phillips

North Adams, Massachusetts

School Daze The Saturday Evening Post

“Tessa has lost three other grandparents to cancer, so her qualifications for asking questions are very real,” says Fead, co-author of a new book, Nana, What’s Cancer? with 11-year-old Tessa Mae Hamermesh to help explain cancer in a way that children can understand (and handle).

“It’s important to talk about cancer with your kids so it’s less scary,” says Tessa. “It’s not a secret.”

The bottom line is that conversations about cancer are unsettling and potentially difficult. To help Post readers respond to the top five concerns of kids ages 8 to 12 about the disease, Fead provides the following information:

1. Cancer is not contagious.
You cannot catch cancer like you could a cold or the flu. It is not a sickness that moves from one person to another. You can hug and kiss me, hold my hand, and sit on my lap, and you will never ever catch my cancer.

2. My doctors are helping me get better.
They are special doctors trained to help people who have cancer. They are very smart when it comes to knowing just what the right medicine is for each type of cancer, and they are working hard to help me get better.

3. It’s OK to feel sad or mad, or whatever it is you’re feeling.
It is only natural to feel sad or angry or afraid when someone you love or care about is not feeling well. It’s okay to cry. Share your feelings with your family, friends, teachers or a counselor. And don’t feel guilty about having fun or being happy; I want your life to be as normal as possible.

4. This is no one’s fault.
No one can cause someone to get cancer. You did not cause my cancer, and I did not cause it to happen. While there are things we can all do to stay healthy, like eat well and exercise, sometimes people still get cancer. Even doctors don’t always know why people get cancer.

5. I will always be willing to talk to you about my cancer.
I will be happy to answer your questions, anytime. I will try to let you know how things are going with my treatments, so you don’t have to wonder how I am doing. But always feel free to come to me to ask me how I am feeling, talk about your feelings, or ask a question.

© American Cancer Society

5 Things Your Kids Need to Know About Cancer The Saturday Evening Post

The stimulus package, which was passed earlier this year, set aside $32 billion in higher-education funding, which will benefit 800,000 students. Even so, parents are naturally concerned that their earnings aren’t rising nearly as fast as the cost of educating their children.

Ben Franklin would try to reassure today’s parents with the value of learning. “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”

Franklin remained a skeptical pragmatist all his life, but he grew dreamy-eyed whenever he talked of learning. He prized education above all things, even above hard work and justice. The minimal schooling he received as a child—only two years of elementary education—left him hungry for more. However, the needs of his family forced him to start work early in life.

Everything else Ben Franklin learned he grabbed between jobs. He read continuously. As a young man, he lived on inexpensive vegetables so he could afford to buy more books. His lifetime of study led him beyond the range of his educated peers into fields of scientific and philosophic speculation. His pursuit of learning eventually earned him honorary degrees from Harvard and Yale, an honorary Master’s degree from William and Mary College, and honorary doctorate degrees from the University of St. Andrews and Oxford University.

Yet he never considered himself an intellectual. If anything, he believed he hadn’t learned enough, and that his thick head prevented him from being truly intelligent. Too much of his education, he believed, was obtained the hard way. He was referring to himself, as much as anyone, when he observed:

“Experience keeps a dear [overpriced] school, but fools will learn in no other.”

The High Cost of Learning The Saturday Evening Post