Douglas Elementary Sickness

This week at Douglas Elementary School, over one hundred students were struck by a stomach virus that is spreading throughout the school. The outbreak started at the beginning of the week when dozens of students started coming down with the sickness and had to be sent home. On Wednesday, South Douglas Elementary School sent out letters notifying the parents of the students about the outbreak of sickness. Many parents temporarily pull their kids out of school after receiving the notice. School custodians have put in extra effort in disinfecting the school and teachers have warned the children about the dangers of these sicknesses and have taught them preventative measures such as washing their hands. The number of students coming down with the sickness has dwindled as the week neared its end, with only one student being sent home on Thursday. The sickness only lasts two to three days and school administrators expect it to have run its course by Monday.

                Despite the mildness of the sickness, this incident brings to light a more serious underlying problem in our schools.  Children are not taught proper hygiene when they are young, or they are taught but not forced to follow proper hygienic procedures. There have been far too many instances of kids skipping out on washing their hands before they eat because “they didn’t touch anything dirty”. When these kids eat with their hands, they transfer all the bacteria from everything they touched that day into their mouths, greatly increasing their chances of getting sick. This case may have only been a mild stomach bug, but next time may not be so lucky. Kids also often do not brush their teeth for the full 3 minutes required of them. They may brush for 30 seconds and their parents never find out. This leads to cavities which will lead to future complications like gingivitis and the possible removal of the tooth. If schools put more emphasis on personal hygiene, these types of outbreaks are less likely to happen.

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local-education/stomach-virus-sickens-students-at-douglas-elementa/nS2dr/