Parents Urged to Reinforce Handwashing, Water Safety for Children In Schools

With children back in school, parents, guardians and teachers are being urged to reinforce basic public-health practices to reduce the risk of illness among students and staff, particularly during the gastroenteritis and flu seasons.

In an interview with JIS News, Health Promotion and Education Officer for Westmoreland, Gerald Miller, emphasised that proper hand hygiene remains one of the most effective ways to protect children in the school environment.

He noted that consistent handwashing before meals and after using the restroom is critical in limiting the spread of diarrhoeal illnesses, which can quickly affect entire schools.

“We are reminding parents [and] teachers to encourage the children to wash their hands before they eat and to wash their hands after using the toilet, as carrying out practices like those will reduce the likelihood of them coming down with diarrhoeal diseases,” he said.

Mr. Miller noted that gastroenteritis is highly contagious and tends to increase at this time of year, making prevention especially important as students return to classrooms.

“These diarrhoeal diseases such as gastroenteritis can spread, and this is important given the fact that we are now in [that] season. This time of the year we tend to have an increasing number of children, as well as adults, who come down with gastroenteritis,” he explained.

Against the background of ongoing water challenges following Hurricane Melissa, Mr. Miller also urged households to take extra precautions with drinking water.

“We know that post-Melissa we are having challenges with water in many areas… and so we just want parents to be extremely vigilant, and we also want persons to boil their drinking water,” he said.

“So, reach boiling point and stay for at least a minute and then cover and cool and store in a clean container, after which the container ought to be covered,” Mr. Miller advised.

He emphasised that these measures can help prevent outbreaks that would disrupt schooling and negatively affect students’ learning.

“We want the parents, as well as the teachers and people within the community, to observe the safety measures, so as to lessen the likelihood of us having any outbreak of diarrhoeal diseases,” he said.

Mr. Miller further highlighted the importance of reinforcing good habits learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, noting that hand hygiene remains essential beyond that period.

“Just like in COVID times when we were very keen on the washing of our hands, we want our parents and teachers to remind the children of this public health measure that can lessen their chances of getting ill,” he underscored.
Turning to respiratory illnesses, he reminded parents that the country is also in the flu season and urged attention to proper cough etiquette.

“We are in the flu season, and we want our parents to pay attention to the issue of cough etiquette, so we want children to cover their cough. We don’t want them to be coughing without covering their mouth because that can help in spreading respiratory diseases,” Mr. Miller said.

He also encouraged parents and caregivers to keep unwell children at home to prevent further spread of illness.

“If the children are not feeling well, they are having the fever, then we as parents we should allow them to stay home,” he said, noting that attending school or work while sick can result in entire classrooms or workplaces being affected.

Mr. Miller added that parents should also remind children to avoid situations that could place them at risk.

“We also want our children to ensure that they are not engaging in anything that will put them at risk in terms of violence,” he said.