Lysol is a financial sponsor of National PTA, and has been invited to submit a blog post as part of their engagement with PTA. National PTA does not endorse any commercial entity, product, or service, and no endorsement is implied by this content.
Illness Prevention Begins at Home
Every day a child is absent, he or she misses out on valuable educational programs. Yet school environments often contribute to absenteeism through the spread of illness as students are in close contact all day, using the same door handles, school supplies and desks. That’s why the National PTA has teamed up with Lysol and the National Education Association (NEA) to spread the word on healthy habits, beginning at home. The aim is to help educate students on the importance of consistent hand washing, sneeze and cough etiquette and more both at home and in the classroom, with the goal of reducing the 22 million school days that are missed each year.
Lysol believes that knowledge is the best weapon against germs. Here are some tips to help spread the word on good healthy habits, not germs.
- Practice Proper Hand Washing: Hand washing with soap and water is one of the most effective ways to help prevent the spread of germs. To make sure that children practice hand washing for at least 20 seconds, the amount of time needed to kill and remove germs, encourage them to sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice while rubbing their hands together and share this trick with their peers at school.
- When the Time is Right: Children should wash hands frequently throughout the day, especially before a meal, after recess or gym and before any cooking activities. Children should also practice good hand washing habits after using the bathroom, coughing, sneezing or playing outside.
- Bring it To School: Encouraging frequent and proper hand washing etiquette at home helps students bring these habits to the classroom and encourage their peers to adopt them as well. Parents can demonstrate healthy habits by frequently disinfecting germ “hot spots” in the home such as faucets, door handles, counter tops, remote controls and the toilet flusher to help avoid illness.
For more information on healthy habits at home and beyond, please visit: Lysol.com/healthyhabits.
Conor O’Brien is the Marketing Director at Lysol.
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