I wrote a blog article on games as educational tools for Kidzworld the other day and I mentioned in passing how the news media outlet loves the Swine flu because it meant that people would be tuning in more and boosting viewer ratings.
While definitely a cynical look at the matter, I realized afterwards that I had studied a bit on medical discourse in popular media, but I only remember bits and pieces of what I had studied, as is typical for most students.
In either case, check out the article and play some of the games. Just like SARS before and other things, we are not screwed. Educational and common sense plays a huge role in controlling and containing disease outbreaks. Cover your mouth when you sneeze and wash your hands frequently.
On the other hand, after watching the movie Knowing, one of the lines near the end of the movie really made me think. A gas station clerk is shown talking to a stranger during mass public panic and looting. He says something to the effect of "It's just like with Y2K, they're going to feel pretty stupid in the morning" when, obviously, he was wrong and shown to be stupid for being a doubter.
While I'm not outright dismissing the Swine Flu, or Hamthrax as some call it, I am saying that we don't need to give it *that* much attention. We just need to know what we can do to help the fight against diseases and do our role.
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