Illinois House passes handwashing bill Chicago parents must be idiots or something.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Illinois House passes handwashing bill Chicago parents must be idiots or something.

Posted: 2/23/2007 4:18:06 PM EDT

This simply indicates that Chicago citizens are too stupid to raise their own kids.

Who wants to propose a law to force teachers to wipe your kids ass for them too?

The worst part is that people want to put the sole blame on the teachers
for the problems with the educational system.

Chicago Tribune LINK

By Ryan Keith
Associated Press Writer
Published February 23, 2007, 7:46 AM CST

SPRINGFIELD -- Rep. Mary Flowers wants to clean up Chicago schools—two germy, dirty hands at a time.

Fed up with what she sees as a health hazard for thousands of children, Flowers has introduced legislation that would require Chicago schools to make students wash their hands with antiseptic soap before eating.

The measure passed the Illinois House 100-14 Thursday without any debate. It now goes to the Senate.

"This is all about a way of life for our children," Flowers ( D-Chicago) said in a recent interview. "It's a public safety issue that needs to be addressed."

But school officials and teachers say the measure seems to reflect misplaced priorities at the state capitol. They say teachers are already doing a good job of keeping kids' hands clean for breakfast and lunch.

And one Chicago parent said promoting cleanliness among students would be a good idea, but questioned whether it deserves the attention of state lawmakers.

"I think they should be focused on the issues," said Mona Van Kenegan, a dentist for a public health clinic at a Chicago high school who has a 7-year-old in a Chicago school.

School absences because of sick kids are common, especially in the cold winter months.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates nearly 22 million school days are lost nationwide just to the common cold, with some viruses and bacteria able to live for two hours or longer on cafeteria tables, doorknobs and desks.

Three schools in North Carolina closed for several days last week after an outbreak of flu-like symptoms decimated attendance.

The Illinois Public Health Department doesn't track similar closures here, however, and Flowers offers no specifics about the scope of the problem she's trying to address in Chicago schools.

Illinois could be heading into new territory if it approves Flowers' bill. Several federal agencies and advocacy groups say they know of no other state that requires school hand washing by law.

Handwashing For Life, a Libertyville, Ill.-based advocacy group that focuses on restaurant kitchens, says similar proposals have popped up in states such as California and Ohio but nothing was implemented.

Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune

State may add soap, water to 3 R's

By Tracy Dell'Angela
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 15, 2007

With all the crises that need to be addressed in Chicago's public schools, add this one to the list: germy little hands.

The Illinois House is expected to vote next week on a proposal that would require all Chicago schoolchildren to wash their hands "with antiseptic soap" before eating, and for the district to upgrade their hand-washing facilities to "nationally accepted standards."

Rep. Mary Flowers, a Chicago Democrat who first sponsored the bill in 2005 and brought it back this session, said she believes the law could save lives, or at least reduce absenteeism in city schools.

Flowers said she is limiting the proposal to apply only to Chicago schools as a starting point and is willing to expand it statewide.

Flowers said this health issue is an important priority for the legislature, which has yet to tackle the thorny issues of school-funding reform or high school dropouts.

"I've had to walk in some of these buildings and I've seen the bathrooms, and I tell you, I wouldn't want my children there," said Flowers, who said her first stab at this legislation died in committee, but it had no organized opposition. "I'm not trying to be a health fanatic. But if I couldn't wash my hands all day, I don't know what I would do. This is a medical crisis ... that needs to be addressed."

She said she is hopeful that this time the proposal will pass the House with little opposition and advance to the Senate.

No one disputes that it's important for people to wash their hands after they use the restroom and before they eat--especially in germ-incubators such as schools. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly 22 million school days are lost every year because of the common cold, and certain strains of E. coli, salmonella and other bacteria can live on surfaces like cafeteria tables and doorknobs for up to two hours.

It's also clear from observational studies that regular hand washing is far from universal. One study in the American Journal of Infection Control found that only 58 percent of female and 40 percent of male students washed their hands after using the bathroom.

But it's not so clear how the mandate would be managed or enforced.

Such a law also would present a logistical snafu at many elementary schools, because bathroom breaks are built into the school day on a staggered schedule. And who is going to enforce the law for high school students, who might resent lining up before lunch while their geometry teacher squirts a little hand sanitizer in their palms?

While the proposal was greeted by a fair share of eye rolling from teachers, they said a new hand-washing law may shame the district into ensuring that every school has sinks with hot running water, soap and paper towels. In many cases, teachers bring their own soap and sanitizer--or they put it on their school supply lists for parents to provide, along with pencils, notebooks and tissues.

Chicago Teachers Union President Marilyn Stewart won a few chortles at a delegate meeting last week when she announced this latest education legislation gaining traction in Springfield. Still, teachers fear the germ-killing mandate could represent a slippery slope. What's next, they wonder? Sanitizing desk tops? Wiping every doorknob? Pulling little fingers out of noses?

"The teachers were like, `Oh yeah, right, like we're not doing it already,'" said Stewart, who kept extra soap and sanitizer in her classroom but also was pragmatic about how quickly students get germy, even after the best scrubbing. "For this to surface at the top of the heap of crucial issues for schools, it's kind of funny. It's not even in the Top 10 of priorities."

Flowers said the cost to implement the law would be "real cheap" when offset by the savings from lower absenteeism, and she doesn't think the mandate will adversely affect school schedules.

"I understand the constraints on teachers' time, but children should be able to practice what they are taught at home," said Flowers, who has a child in the Chicago school system. "Preventing the spreading of germs and bacteria is a lifelong lesson."

It's a lesson that already gets plenty of attention in city schools, said district spokesman Michael Vaughn.

If this proposal makes Flowers seem a little germ obsessed, well, she's in good company. Politicians on both sides of the aisle--from President Bush and Vice President Cheney to Al Gore and Sen. Barack Obama--have become religious about carrying hand sanitizer.

Carlos Azcoitia, principal at Chicago's Spry Community School, who has more than 900 pupils wandering his hallways, is not one to pooh-pooh germ fighting. He expects his teachers to remind students regularly about washing their hands, and he makes sure the bathrooms are well stocked with soap and paper towels. Azcoitia says he has no option but to practice what he preaches because, as the kind of principal who likes to walk the halls greeting students, "I might shake 100 little hands all day long."

Still, he's a little baffled by the proposal.

"Let's not come up with another mandate. Let's worry about school funding first," he said.

Posted: 2/23/2007 5:04:53 PM EDT

[#1]

absolutely stupid..more government nanny state bullshit. most people will eat this up because " it is a good idea" not realizing its none of the governments damn business

Posted: 2/23/2007 5:42:59 PM EDT

[#2]

I give it two generations before the "idiot kids having more idiot kids" bullshit devolves us as a species to the point where we stop wiping our asses and have reminder signs placed everywhere (by law) reminding us to breath.

The next gen after that we'll be at the "Planet of the Apes" stage where roving bands of shitty-assed gorillas stumble through the world, unable to operate any of the left over remnants of civilization and unaware of where it came from in the first place. Hell most people fit into the latter category today.

I've gotten to the point where ANYTHING that has the steaming bullshit "For the Children" attached to it my first, involuntary response is "Fuck the Children!"

It's now reached the point where it's been "Pavloved" into the very structure of society. People's brains stop functioning and all you get is a zombie-like "Oh, that's something that *must* be done!".

Fuck, fuck, FUCK!!!!

Posted: 2/23/2007 5:51:50 PM EDT

[#3]

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates nearly 22 million school days are lost nationwide just to the common cold, with some viruses and bacteria able to live for two hours or longer on cafeteria tables, doorknobs and desks.

Handwashing is a nice idea but it will not decrease the amount of colds in a school setting. The incubation period for viruses can be anywhere from 2 to 21 days with people shedding infectious viruses during the asymptomatic period. Unless you stay scrupulously clean you will catch and spread viruses.

Posted: 2/23/2007 6:22:35 PM EDT

[#4]

The fact that these kids are eating two meals a day at school tells you all you need to know.

Posted: 2/23/2007 6:23:12 PM EDT

[#5]

LOL

our tax dollars at work...

Posted: 2/23/2007 6:31:19 PM EDT

[#6]

This is what happens when welfare recipients vote and affirmative action patronage recipients run the government.

Cradle to grave, the government is here to help you.

Posted: 2/23/2007 6:32:50 PM EDT

[#7]

Like I said, there isn't one aspect of American life that government hasn't stuck it's fucking nose into.

Posted: 2/23/2007 6:37:51 PM EDT

[#8]

Kinda like the chow halls in Iraq---must wash hands before entering

.

Posted: 2/23/2007 6:37:58 PM EDT

[#9]

Don't you LOVE Chicago?

I was born there and all, went through the CPS system and love my native city but it's too liberal.

Oh and by the way-both my parents were raised in the city, must make them idiots.

Posted: 2/23/2007 6:47:02 PM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:
I give it two generations before the "idiot kids having more idiot kids" bullshit devolves us as a species to the point where we stop wiping our asses and have reminder signs placed everywhere (by law) reminding us to breath.

<Snip>

I've come to the conclusion that the Chinese are going to rule the world and that Chinese kids will continue to wipe their asses.

Our hand wringing, namby pamby, welfare state, non-ass wiping civilization can't compete with the hardheaded Chinese. Our non-ass wiping decline will continue. Their butt-wiping ascendancy will march forward unhindered. By the time all is said and done China will be an economic and military powerhouse with clean butts and we will be a stinky, bankrupt socialist shithole where everyone sits around on their rancid asses and talks about how good things "used to be."

This post is not a joke.

Posted: 2/23/2007 6:52:47 PM EDT

[#11]

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates nearly 22 million school days are lost nationwide just to the common cold, with some viruses and bacteria able to live for two hours or longer on cafeteria tables, doorknobs and desks.

That's pretty cool considering there are only 365 days to a year... ok 366 on a leap year. I love these kind of statistics.

Posted: 2/23/2007 7:18:24 PM EDT

[#12]

I work for a major oil company. They came out with a way for us to wash our hands. When you walk into the bathroom the first thing you do is roll down the paper towels that you will use to dry your hands. Then you will soap and latter up your hands. Then you would rinse your hands for 15 seconds. Then you would tear the paper towels, dry your hands, use the paper towels to turn the water off and also use the towels to open the door on way out. You dispose of towel at the first trash can after you leave. This was past on to us in one of our staff meetings. Being the smart ass I am I just had to ask why go thru all that when after ward you will get in a chinese all you can eat buffet and no telling what is on that spoon that the 50 people ahead of had on there hands.
Sometimes I think if they were not a oil company they would have been out of buisness a long time ago.

Posted: 2/23/2007 7:31:04 PM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
Don't you LOVE Chicago?

I was born there and all, went through the CPS system and love my native city but it's too liberal.

Oh and by the way-both my parents were raised in the city, must make them idiots.

Yep, at least in the eyes of their elected officials.

Posted: 2/23/2007 7:37:34 PM EDT

[#14]

Hey...you...with the dirty hands, step against the wall and put your hands on your head!

Posted: 2/23/2007 7:48:28 PM EDT

[#15]

The politicians are out of control. Totally out of control. Now there's a Democrat lady pushing a bill to make spanking illegal. WTF?

Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View, wants to outlaw spanking children up to 3 years old. If she succeeds, California would become the first state in the nation to explicitly ban parents from smacking their kids.

Posted: 2/23/2007 9:41:09 PM EDT

[#16]

amusingly enough, more and more doctors and biologists are saying that our obsession with antibacterial hygiene is damaging national health. their view is that overprotection is systemically weakening the nation's collective immune system.

sounds like the inevitable result of the liberal philosophy of promoting equality by weakening the strong, not strengthening the weak.

there's a reason we call him "uncle sam", not "mommy sam".

Posted: 2/23/2007 9:53:27 PM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
The politicians are out of control. Totally out of control. Now there's a Democrat lady pushing a bill to make spanking illegal. WTF?

Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View, wants to outlaw spanking children up to 3 years old. If she succeeds, California would become the first state in the nation to explicitly ban parents from smacking their kids.

That got quashed. Now she wants to make it illegal to use belts and other implements of mass terror illegal.

Posted: 2/23/2007 9:55:25 PM EDT

[#18]

Quoted:
I work for a major oil company. They came out with a way for us to wash our hands. When you walk into the bathroom the first thing you do is roll down the paper towels that you will use to dry your hands. Then you will soap and latter up your hands. Then you would rinse your hands for 15 seconds. Then you would tear the paper towels, dry your hands, use the paper towels to turn the water off and also use the towels to open the door on way out. You dispose of towel at the first trash can after you leave. This was past on to us in one of our staff meetings. Being the smart ass I am I just had to ask why go thru all that when after ward you will get in a chinese all you can eat buffet and no telling what is on that spoon that the 50 people ahead of had on there hands.
Sometimes I think if they were not a oil company they would have been out of buisness a long time ago.

I wonder, how many people did they employ total?

Safety is important in the oilfield, but some companies, especially large ones, try to take the same emphasis on safety into the office, often with comic results.

Posted: 2/23/2007 9:55:51 PM EDT

[#19]

Quoted:
amusingly enough, more and more doctors and biologists are saying that our obsession with antibacterial hygiene is damaging national health. their view is that overprotection is systemically weakening the nation's collective immune system.

sounds like the inevitable result of the liberal philosophy of promoting equality by weakening the strong, not strengthening the weak.

there's a reason we call him "uncle sam", not "mommy sam".

THis isn't new news. The medical profession has known this for decades. The over use of antiboitics has lead to super resistant strains of all kinds of vuiri and other germs.

Posted: 2/23/2007 9:58:24 PM EDT

[#20]

You can look at this with a tinfoil spin:

They are requiring the use of antibiotic soap, thereby increasing the resistance of germs and furthering big medicine.

There is no money in a cure, only in a treatment.

Posted: 2/24/2007 1:44:56 AM EDT

[#21]

Quoted:
I work for a major oil company. They came out with a way for us to wash our hands. When you walk into the bathroom the first thing you do is roll down the paper towels that you will use to dry your hands. Then you will soap and latter up your hands. Then you would rinse your hands for 15 seconds. Then you would tear the paper towels, dry your hands, use the paper towels to turn the water off and also use the towels to open the door on way out. You dispose of towel at the first trash can after you leave. This was past on to us in one of our staff meetings. Being the smart ass I am I just had to ask why go thru all that when after ward you will get in a chinese all you can eat buffet and no telling what is on that spoon that the 50 people ahead of had on there hands.
Sometimes I think if they were not a oil company they would have been out of buisness a long time ago.

Actually their way is pretty smart, and the way I do it if they have paper towels- other wise I go back and find a place with napkins, etc. then return.

But think about your wisecrack. The door handle you grab on the way out of the restroom has got to be the filthiest thing in the whole room except for the toilet itself. Hundreds go in and out, and some guys don't wash their hands at all. Some of these guys had a little breakthrough in the institutional TP, so they've prepared the door handle for you to grab with your bare, hopefully clean hands.

So now you open the door and go grab the serving spoon handle with your newly contaminated hand?

Now, instead of you chancing an infection from previous spoon contamination by the 50 people before you, YOU have become the vector for disease for the 50 people who follow you.

Actually, I think its great to have school kids washing up before lunch. But it should be because their parents taught them to.

Posted: 2/24/2007 4:28:11 AM EDT

[#22]

2006 Darwin Award, Faithful Flotation

Meanwhile, Chimpanzees take note of a future opening in the food chain. They prepare accordingly...

Chimpanzees 'hunt using spears'

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Illinois House passes handwashing bill Chicago parents must be idiots or something.

General » General Discussion

Warning

Confirm Action

About AR15.COM

Stay Connected

Newsletter

Contact Us