Preventing Germs in the Classroom
5 Tips to Keep Teachers and Children Healthy
For several years, within weeks of school starting, my son a Special Education teacher, would display cold symptoms. The same thing happened to my daughter, when she worked in a home day care, as well as preschool. Both talked about children who coughed and sneezed without covering their mouths. One year, when I worked in a church nursery, so many children were sick, that all the furniture was removed, and the walls disinfected There are ways to keep germs at a minimum in classrooms.
1. Wash hands
Adults and children should wash their hands with soap and warm water, often. This is especially a necessity after using the restroom, and before eating.
2. Hand sanitizer
Hand sanitizer will kill bacteria. Each classroom should have a supply. Each student actually should have their own.
3. Cover mouth when coughing or sneezing.
Who among us has not cringed when someone coughed or sneezed right in our faces. Young children need to be taught that if they cannot avail themselves of a tissue, to cover their cough or sneeze, with their forearm. We should never cough or sneeze directly into our hands. This will prevent germs from being spread.
4. Restroom precautions
What good does it do to wash hands in a restroom, only to turn off the faucet, and open the door, which may be filled with germs. Always use a tissue or paper towel to turn faucet on and off, and when exiting the restroom.
5. Clean and Disinfect
Teachers should have a day when students wash down their desks. Teachers should also use spray disinfectant on doors before and after class.
6. Keep immune system healthy
My children stopped getting sick at the beginning of school, when they took steps to keep their immune systems healthy. My son used EmergenC vitamin packets, and my daughter used Airborne. They both also made sure to drink plenty of water each day.
7. Fresh air
If possible, classroom window should be cracked a little at the beginning of each morning. This lets fresh air in. I recall teaching a children's church class that was in the middle of a building and there were no windows. The air was very stuffy. I crack windows during the winter at home, and my family no longer gets sinus infections and head colds as we did years ago.
it is easy to say parents should keep sick children at home, but we know this will not always be possible. Therefore teachers, students and parents must do everything they can to make sure the classroom environment is as healthy as possible.
