Government schools are interesting environments into which to send your children. And while I am tempted to rail on and on about their evils, I will focus on area that is important on a basic level: Cleanliness.
Last week I was enjoying the Food & Wine Festival at EPCOT and I was struck by something I never noticed in the bathrooms there. Little placards above each sink with the title, “Hand Washing Tips.” Three simple bullets telling you to wet, wash and rinse. I was dumbfounded by both the fact that now my bathroom sinks are advertising spots and that some people lack the basic hygiene to know how to wash their hands!
Cleanliness is an important part of life that we often overlook. How many times do you wash your hands during the day? When was the last time you really deep cleaned the surfaces in your house? Probably not as much as you should, (unless you are lucky and have a maid).
When it comes to the government schools, the majority of children that attend them every day probably are not thinking about the disgusting germs everywhere as much as the cute girl that just started or how to cram for the latest pop quiz the teacher is going to give today. However, due to some diligence by Clorox this should be a bit easier of a job with their “Clean Up The Classroom” campaign.
The campaign focuses on three main areas: Teacher education and interaction, student awareness and parental involvement.
With the kit that comes with it is a bunch of newsletters to send home to parents encouraging them to encourage behaviors like the “Elbow Cough” and the “Sign & Scrub.” It also lists common places people forget to clean around the house, an encouragement to help buy supplies for the classroom (which is sad because the schools should supply all of that but I will keep that can of worms closed for now). It also gives them a web address for more tips and activities for their children.
For the teacher and students there are more activities to do in the form of a very large poster that helps identify the areas of a classroom that are in most need of cleaning. You can put stickers on the posters that have cartoonish drawings of germs and bacteria and say things like “Gross,” “Ick,” and so on. Also there are worksheets, and other things to do that a teach can download from the website for the campaign.
There is also a trio of cartoon characters that have the obligatory naming like “Ella the Elbow Cougher” and “Harry the Handwasher.” While these are not likely to have a multi-billion dollar film trilogy built around them, they do put a face on the campaign albeit a rather generic one.
In the end, the Clean Up The Classroom is a great idea and the kit includes some good activities and resources for all involved including the expected coupons for Clorox cleaning product (although the free stuff for the teacher is a nice touch). While the marketing does not beat you over the head it does make one wonder why an outside company is willing to spend money on a campaign like this. Then again, looking at Mahwah High School making students eat on the floor, it doesn’t seem such a bad move after all.
OMG I had to go look up that high school. I had not heard about that but I would be livid!
No way would I let my child eat on the floor.