Hand sanitizers versus soap
The issue of children bringing alcohol-based hand sanitizers to
school has been a topic of discussion recently by several of our
parents.
Alcohol-based sanitizers contain 60 percent or more alcohol and are
a dangerous item for children to bring to school. In addition to
being flammable, the chemicals in the sanitizers can be poisonous if
swallowed and dangerous if squirted in a child’s eyes. They also
kill bacteria, not viruses – the common cold and flu are caused by
viruses. It is also advised that these sanitizers be used with
supervision and that they not be used by children.
Scotia-Glenville is exploring installing non-alcohol sanitizers in
elementary classrooms. This has been done in other school districts
in the Capital Region.
Here is information from the Capital Region BOCES Risk Management
Service that discusses
the benefits and downsides to using hand washing and hand sanitizers
(in PDF).
Scotia-Glenville's pro-active
approach - wash hands frequently
The school district is following proactive, common-sense procedures
that stress the following:
• Hand
washing. Most elementary classrooms at Scotia-Glenville have sinks,
paper towels, soap and hot water. All students have access to
bathroom or locker room sinks. They are being encouraged to wash
their hands for 20 seconds - enough time to sing the "Happy
Birthday" song twice.
In a meeting last month with Dr. David Pratt from the Schenectady
County Health Department and other school officials, as well as a
similar meeting held with school superintendents and health
officials in Albany County, it was stressed that old-fashioned
hand-washing is the best remedy for stalling the spread of H1N1.
• If a child needs to sneeze or cough,
he or she should do so into a tissue or the crook of the arm and
then wash their hands and arm as soon as they can after that.
• If another child is sneezing or
coughing, it is best to keep a distance from that child – the Yard
Stick (3-foot) rule.
• If a child has flu-like symptoms –
fever of more than 100 degrees F., cough, sore throat, runny or
stuffy nose – he or she should not come to school. Additional
symptoms may be experienced with H1N1 (swine flu) including muscle
pain, fatigue, and sometimes vomiting or diarrhea.
• A child should be kept home until 24
hours after the fever is gone (without medication).
• Report a child’s flu-like symptoms to
the school nurse.
• Do not treat flu-like illnesses with
aspirin.
• Keep up to date about the flu at these
web sites:
H1N1 flu from the state Health Department.
H1N1 flu from the Centers for Disease Control.
