The “sink” ritual, imperative and vital in its importance, has surprisingly become so mundane, that a staggering amount of students have ceased to perform the mere act of washing one’s hands.

            In Hoover, alongside flushing toilets, as gruesome as it may seem, washing hands have dropped to an all-time low.

            At least one third of the average 24-hour period is spent at school interacting with about 2,400 other students who either do or do not have clean hygiene ethics.

According to Ehso.com, when a person does not wash his hands, most germs and bacteria are picked up from touching one’s eyes, nose, or mouth. The Soap and Detergent Association’s latest survey recorded that 40 percent of American workers do not wash their hands often and when they do it is not as effective.

 As students attending high school, we are just as bad or even worse. During a furtive stakeout at lunch, an undercover journalist discovered that approximately 41 percent of the girls that entered the bathroom did not wash their hands with soap after using the restroom.

Then after an investigation in the boy’s bathrooms, the results for the boys were even more shocking. About 57 percent of the boys did not wash their hands with soap. Most just flushed and fled.

After witnessing a student using the toilet for purposes other than “number one” and immediately exiting the bathroom without cleaning his hands, I was finally convinced to write this article.

It is harrowing to think about the individual actions one takes after using the restroom without washing their hands. From touching lockers, eating lunch, biting one’s nails to giving hugs, horsing around, and shaking hands, one uses their hands a great deal when interacting with other students.

The correct way to wash one’s hands in order to avoid any epidemic breakouts is to apply soap, and scrub thoroughly against one’s hands for about the amount of time it takes to sing the “Happy Birthday” song.

There is no law against not washing hands after using the toilet; however, students have been doing it so frequently that implementing a law would seem to be the more “sanitary” thing to do.

Although most students would say that they do wash their hands, applying just water and paper towels after using the toilet does not really count.

However, “rinsing with water is at least better than doing nothing at all,” school nurse Tony Treling said.  

On April 2nd, a random check for soap was conducted in the boys locker room bathroom. Not at all surprised, the dispenser was empty. This meant that throughout that entire day of April 2nd, all boys that used the locker room bathroom did not wash their hands after using the toilets.

Treling’s limited solution to the health hazard was to “carry around little hand wipes.” Until then, the administration will have to find a way to settle this detrimental inconvenience, because school-wide epidemics breed through unwashed hands, especially when soap is not provided.

Until students change to healthier hygiene habits, remember that at school approximately two out of every three boys and two out of every five girls do not wash their hands at all after using the restroom.