Washing Your Hands
Kristen Spang

Ever wonder why viruses are passed on so easily? From person to person, colds and germs are exchanged by a simple chain of touching. One of the main reasons why It is kind of gross when you think about the many people in the world who do not wash their hands. It is hard to realize how many germs and gross bacteria that we handle during the day. Whether it is that they used the bathroom, changed a diaper, or blew their nose, by not washing their hands they easily pass germs to many other people. The worst thing about it is that not many people are doing much to prevent it. Public restrooms often are out of soap, or don't promote good hygiene. Although they try to, like for instance the signs that say in public bathrooms “Employees Must Wash Hands”, there is no promise that it actually occurs, even though it is something that people can get in trouble for. But other than that, what does the public do in order to make sure that we are a clean community? Not to much, according to results of surveys, there aren't enough people watching their hands!
According to survey, 91% of people say they always wash their hands after using the bathroom. In reality, only 83% do. Considering those 17% of people, even though it may not seem like much, they are a big source of sicknesses spreading, by touching many objects that others touch, or shaking hands, germs are easily spread to their bodies. Other things, such as blowing noses or changing diapers have even less turn outs. But, aside from this, there is a big difference between men and women and what activities they wash their hands after. Only 24 percent of men and 39 percent of women say they always wash their hands after coughing or sneezing. That is a big difference between the two sexes. Why is this? Another example could be that 92 percent of the women washed their hands compared to only 64 percent of the men on the New York Subway System. Pretty gross, right? It makes you hesitate before you touch another persons belongings.
The worst thing is that people who don't wash their hands touch the same doorknob that you do after you wash your hands. From now on, realize that germs are spreading very quickly by these chains of events. Try to prevent it, wash your hands. All it takes is a couple of minutes a day!

 

--Send a letter to the editor telling us what you think and we'll publish it.