About 300,000 American children under the age of 14 have epilepsy. It affects children at different ages, and in different ways. For some, it will be a temporary problem, easily controlled with medication, outgrown after a few years. For others, it may be a lifelong challenge affecting many areas of life. Medical treatment of childhood epilepsy is getting better, and research towards a cure continues. More medications are now available. For children whose seizures are not controlled by medication or who experience unacceptable side-effects, several treatments including surgery, the ketogenic diet, and the vagus nerve stimulator (VNS) may be effective in treating their seizures.