8 Ways to Sanitize Your Classroom
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As just about any teacher or parent will tell you, the school classroom is a breeding ground for all sorts of illness. This isn’t just the wisdom of experience speaking, however; the statistics bear out this fact. Young children lose around 20 million days of school each year.
Keeping the classroom germ-free (or at least as germ-free as possible) isn’t an easy task. Yet, it’s important. A sanitized and disinfected classroom will lead to the transmission of fewer illnesses. This, in turn, leads to fewer missed days of school and a more thorough education for every child. Whether you’re a teacher trying to create a classroom environment that’s free of illnesses or whether you’re a parent trying to keep your child from bringing home the plague, there are some things you can do to sanitize the classroom:
Make sure everyone is washing their hands. This goes for your child, your students, and even the school staff. If you’re a teacher of young children, encourage them to practice washing their hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds each time. If you’re a parent, practice this with your own children at home.
Look into the school’s personnel sanitation policies. You should also talk to the school leadership about the hand-washing policy of the staff. While adults should know better, they don’t always think about just how easy it is to spread illness in a school environment. Consider suggesting that the administration offer an instructional program on germs and the spread of infectious diseases. Research has demonstrated that such programs can greatly reduce the spreading of colds and flu.
Watch out for the pencil sharpener. That crank-based pencil sharpener on the wall can be host to all sorts of germs and other nefarious critters. According to one study, the pencil sharpener is the dirtiest thing in a classroom. If you’re a parent, consider sending a pencil sharpener to school with your child. As a teacher, consider using an electronic hands-free sharpener. Many schools have already moved away from the wall-sharpener practice, but there are many out there that still have them.
Regularly wipe down common surfaces. As a parent, this can be a tough one. It’s not as if you can walk into the school with a bottle of Lysol and start wiping down the drinking fountains, water faucets, light switches, and doorknobs. You can, however, talk to school staff about how often these things are cleaned. In a worst case scenario, you can send disinfectant wipes with your child so that she can clean her desk at the end of the day or before and after they eat lunch. As a teacher, you can make sure these common areas are regularly cleaned. About half of teachers in a recent survey took it on themselves to disinfect their classrooms in that manner.
Donate cleanliness-related items to the classroom. Teachers, unfortunately, wind up doing this all too often. Parents have a real opportunity to step in and help the teacher out by sending in functional items, such as tissues or sanitizing wipes for the teacher to use.
Teach the children proper cleanliness techniques. Help children learn to sneeze into a tissue or the crook of their arm, for example. Explain to your children that they should never set their backpacks down on the floor – especially in the bathroom. Help children develop proper cleaning habits and they themselves will greatly reduce the spread of germs.
Watch out for crayons, too. Passing objects like crayons from one person to the next is a recipe for passing germs, too. If at all possible, try to make sure each child has their own art supplies. As a parent, you can make sure your child has his own, and you can donate extras to the classroom for those children who may not have some of their own.
Consider a HEPA filter. HEPA filters can get rid of 99.9% of pollen, dust, and other allergens from the air. In some cases, the school may be persuaded to provide these for teachers. In other cases, one may need to be loaned to the classroom by a parent or the teacher.
Keeping a classroom clean benefits everyone. It reduces sick days, and it keeps illnesses from being transmitted from one person to the other. These simple steps can dramatically cut back on the number of lost school days in a given year.
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About the author: Dorothy Wheaton, PA-C, is the lead clinical provider for Careworks Convenient Healthcare, an organization that offers a number of walk-in healthcare clinics and urgent care centers in the Northeast United States.