That a child feels safe is essential for their development, a duty for the welfare society and a longing of families. But when we live in a world where bad news arrives everywhere, it is more difficult to maintain the sense of security.Wars, AI threat, climate emergency, floods, weather alerts, emergency kits... We want to protect them and spare them any suffering, but, at the same time, it is not a solution to deceive them by saying that it is all a lie.How do we do it? Two ideas:The first would be to lower the noise of the alarm: a smoke detector warns us when there is a fire. Let's imagine that this alarm rang every day: we would end up living stressed, scared, and in a state of alert. This is what happens to children if we let all the bad news reach them, especially if we have not prepared them or their brain to understand when the danger is real, exaggerated, or fake news.That is why it is important to reduce screen time and, above all, try to control what reaches them. If we know what they have seen or listen to the news with them, we can provide context, contribute critical thinking, and prevent them from ending up frightened by the catastrophism or exaggeration that some media outlets often use.And the second would be to strengthen them from within: avoiding all worries for them is overprotecting them, which ends up leaving them unprotected because we waste opportunities to train their resilience, adaptability, and inner strength. It would be like putting them in a bubble so they never feel fear, and when one day that fear arrived, they wouldn't know how to manage it because they hadn't been trained.Information, context and resources

Children are much stronger than we usually think. Let's trust them, because adaptability is an innate capacity of human nature. We just have to try not to annul it while we educate. Parents should, first, stop, look at them, and ask them: "What have you understood from what you just heard? What is it that worries you about this news?"Fear grows when there is uncertainty, that is to say, when information is missing, or when we only have a part of the information, the bad part. Completing it, contextualizing it, and helping them to think is educating them in inner strength.I remember that a couple of years ago, during the severe spring drought, a very distressed 5th-grade group arrived at the summer camp. They told me that it wasn't worth the effort or thinking about the future because the world would end before they turned thirty. They were convinced that, due to climate change, we would all die of thirst. I asked them: "And in countries where there is a desert, how do they manage? Do they all die of thirst?" They looked at each other in surprise and answered no. I remember how their expressions changed and some smiled. I explained to them that humans are extraordinary beings, also capable of doing beautiful things, of adapting to circumstances, of inventing solutions, and of overcoming enormous challenges.I believe that here lies our responsibility as adults: we cannot promise our children that nothing bad will ever happen, but we can train them so they know they will have resources to face these situations, such as pausing before a piece of news, thinking critically, asking questions to calm down, and feeling that the world is a safe place to grow up and live in.

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The woman suffers all day long, worried that someone will occupy the apartment she bought with her life savings. Not a day goes by that she doesn't turn on the television and see images of vandalized properties, terrible violations of private property rights. These scare tactics dominate the morning news. The woman, of course, doesn't see the perversion of a system that speculates on housing, dominated by large landlords and vulture funds that make access to decent housing impossible, and that uses her as a pawn to impose a general climate in which evictions are not only acceptable but absolutely necessary. It doesn't matter if the "evictions" are of families, of children. Property is more sacred than compassion for the homeless, and lumping them together with opportunists and freeloaders makes their dehumanization easier. So, the fear of the woman is, in reality, a fear of poverty, of those who have nothing. If they have nothing, they have nothing to lose and, therefore, can risk much more than someone who has something.

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Or perhaps the more appropriate question would be: what are you afraid of? Because there are few emotions like the fear of being so equal and so clearly reminded of our true human measure. From the fear of the dark, of monsters, or of separation from your mother, to pain, loneliness, or the death of those you love and who know who you truly are. Fears visit us throughout life like ghosts that take the most varied forms of loss. Violence, losing your home or job, or dignity; outliving a child or a loved one. All of this upsets us in a way that squeezes our hearts hard, almost physically.

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Assassination attempt on Trump. New Israeli bombing of Gaza. Russian drones fly over Poland. Fear. Vox says jobs are out of control. Sánchez calls for a vote to prevent the far right from taking power. Ayuso maintains that migrant minors are becoming more aggressive every day. Fear, fear, fear. The CPI has risen 26% in 10 years. Rent in Barcelona is now, on average, more than 1,100 euros. Fear. And the list could be almost endless.

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Fear is a universal, deep, and essential emotion directly linked to survival. At some point, we've all heard a pressure in our chest, a sudden muscle tension, a shiver on our skin, or a racing heartbeat that heralds imminent danger. But what exactly is fear? Why is it so necessary for us, and how do we manage it? And what does it reveal about us, as a species and as individuals?

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Antoni Muntadas' project On Translation: Fear It confronts us with what the artist calls "invisible mechanisms." It highlights how these mechanisms serve to politically exploit the media and how those in power use them to control citizens around a specific ideology or discourse.

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It's the night, the darkness... That's responsible for their fear. Not seeing clearly, among other things, sets off an inner alarm. Then, distrust, discomfort, and a feeling of helplessness increase; and anguish and fear appear, even making them imagine a monster is coming. However, the day is simply ending, and everything that's enigmatic about the darkness is calm and warm. It's enough to show these qualities to the child or young person (and be with them) for them to savor them. Summer can be a great time: the cool night air invites you to go outside as the day fades. Besides, these are ideal months for stargazing and doing all kinds of outdoor activities, not to mention summer camps and summer retreats, where nighttime games are—for those who have already grown out of them—true fun.

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Fears—of loud noises, separation from parents, strangers, animals, darkness, being alone, imaginary beings, self-harm, death, thieves, natural phenomena, academic failure, social rejection—commonly emerge throughout childhood. "Some develop in a normal way, appearing and disappearing as the child grows and matures," says Maria Taló, a child and adolescent psychologist at the Sant Joan de Déu Hospital in Barcelona. She also reminds us that having fears during childhood and adolescence is completely normal and should not cause concern.

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