If your children are suddenly washing their hands with zeal, it may be because they have seen the GloGerm presentation I have been bringing to the classrooms. Through funds donated by the APT, I purchased a kit that illuminates "germs" on hands and surfaces. The students can see that what looks clean may not actually be clean unless it has been washed very thoroughly. We talk about why, when, and how to wash hands.
Although most believe that colds and viruses are spread through the air from sneezing and coughing, the majority of these germs are actually spread by hand contact. A sneeze or cough results in germs on the hands of a sick person, and these germs are transmitted to another person’s hands either by a handshake or by contact with an object, like a doorknob, that the sick person has just touched. When the second person rubs his or her eyes, nose, or mouth, the germs enter his or her body. The CDC says that hand washing is "the single most important means of preventing the spread of infection".
Unfortunately, this simple strategy is often ignored. A recent study reported by the American Society for Microbiology revealed that although 95% of men and women in major cities across the country said that they wash their hands after using the bathroom, only 68% were observed actually doing so. This means that 1 out of 3 people did not wash. Regrettably, there are a lot of unclean hands out there. (By the way, people from Chicago were the most frequent washers, and women were more likely to wash than men).
Hopefully students at Swallow Union will learn the importance of hand washing at an early age. I hope that the whole family will join the students in what will become a lifelong healthy habit. It is one step everyone can take to protect themselves during this cold and flu season. For more information, visit this interesting WEB site: www.microbe.org. It offers games, quizzes, and experiments related to hand washing. Also, many thanks to the APT for making the GloGerm kit purchase possible.
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