How to mediate for children what is Corona? With the stress relieving and exiting the closure, and especially with returning to schools and kindergartens, the question of information and the need for caution and avoidance becomes critical, especially to prevent a second infection wave. 

Alongside the threatening graphs and data, the information system in Israel and around the world simulates the Corona virus to a tiny creature, surrounded by a crown that gave it its name. Sometimes he even passes the personification (personification), and receives human and oral illustrations. This description does not encourage caution. On the contrary. If the virus is so tiny, how dangerous can it be? Needless to say, the corona is not a microscopic princess. This image can be harmful, especially when it comes to publicizing children. 

To understand how damaging the existing image of the Corona can be, you have to go back for a moment 40 years back to understand the true power of the metaphor and image. In 1980, a rare linguistic makeover occurred at the University of California at Berkeley. Up until that time, the metaphors were considered ornamental and beautiful to the songs. The poets of the ancient world likened my beloved lips to roses and her black hair to charcoal. From Shakespeare to Alterman, from Sappho to David Avidan, the poets used metaphors. 

In a formative article, Lykoff and Johnson, the Berkeley-based researcher, made it clear that "metaphors can kill." The metaphor, they argued, is a sixth element of our speech, and impossible to think and manage without it. It is not only important to poets. It is also important for warriors, human relations, for all human conduct - and especially for politicians. Jabotinsky's Iron Wall explained in essence the enemy water ahead, and George Bush's "smoking gun" sparked a whole war. The Iron Curtain, Churchill's metaphor in 1946, divided the world in two and survived better than any real limit. Understanding the power of metaphors gave rise to the saying: "Military advisors emphasize the importance of controlling the sky. Political advisers emphasize the importance of controlling metaphor."

What metaphor should be adopted when it comes to Corona? How to encourage children to think about Corona and be careful? My answer is that the Corona virus is a lit match. The red heads we see in the Corona illustrations are not a crown, but a circle of red matches that are very easy to ignite. The metaphor is fire, and humans are like them as papers. The danger of the Corona virus lies in its corruptive power that is reserved only for fire: at one time it can strike entire regions. 

The Corona is an enemy and we are at war. And war metaphors in our region are very common. Military operations PR has always excelled at the use of metaphors; suffice it to think of "firm cliff" and "cast lead". Even Hassan Nasrallah used the "cobweb" metaphor when he wanted to illustrate the weakness of Israeli society. In response, he received Operation Steel Web.

The Corona virus, dear children, is like a lit match. It is a special, stubborn fire that is very difficult to put out. We all hold a burning match in our hands, and when we see someone in front of us, it's worth keeping a distance. The corona is not a queen, and has no crown. The corona is a burning fire and humans are like papers. 

Prof. Dalia Gabrieli Nuri is a lecturer in the Department of Politics and Communication at Hadassah College, Jerusalem