Everyone knows the basic facts of good hygiene, like washing your hands or brushing your teeth. In reality, does everyone actually practice good hygiene? And is one gender more hygienic than the other? An A-Blast study indicates that girls actually have cleaner habits than boys.
Over the course of C lunch on Oct. 25, staff members of the A-blast counted how many boys and girls washed their hands after using the restrooms. Reporters collected data in the bathrooms across from
the cafeteria.
Of the 20 girls that came in, 19 washed their hands and only one washed her hands without soap, instead solely rinsing with water. These results outshined the boys side, where a total of 36 boys visited the bathroom. Of those, 18 used soap, 16 rinsed with only water and two did not wash their hands at all. Even though the majority of the students washed their hands, AHS boys are lacking in the sanitation department.
“Girls wash their hands more because they might feel the need to be more hygienic than boys after using the restroom,” junior Dylan Gore said.
There are a few possible explanations for why students at AHS may be lacking hygiene. One possibility is lack of supplies.
“The bathrooms are sometimes out of soap, which makes it harder to wash your hands, so sometimes I’ll use hand sanitizer after,” senior Emily Krause said.
Students may also believe that going through the motions is enough to maintain good hygiene. Washing your hands with just water does virtually nothing to clean your hands. Soap is the main component of the washing process and is necessary to kill harmful germs and bacteria. Therefore, by rinsing your hands merely with water, you are wasting time performing an unproductive process and missing out on a key part of good hygiene.
Another reason why students may be lacking in hygiene is that although they know what good hygiene entails, some may not know just how many germs they encounter on a regular basis. Proper hygiene practices are especially important when it comes to bathrooms, where millions of germs are covering common surfaces, paper towel and soap pumps in particular, that are not sanitized as often.
Germs can be dispersed to bathroom objects from the toilet as well. If the toilet lid is left open when flushed, bacteria from the waste can spread to other items, compromising hygienic tools such as toothbrushes. For this reason, it is recommended that toothbrushes are replaced every three months to avoid germs that may harbor there.
Surprisingly, surfaces outside of the bathroom harbor even more bacteria because they are cleaned less often. Such surfaces are found in public places due to the many people that interact there and the lack of resources to clean them. Household objects, such as desk surfaces, are also highly populated by germs for the same reason. The best way to stay germ-free is to sanitize your personal items regularly, keep hand sanitizer with you when you go out and practice hygienic habits properly.
“I keep hand sanitizer in my backpack with me during school to use throughout the day and after lunch,” senior Natalie Ford said.
By: Esra Gokturk
