There is a group of fifth graders that congregate outside the front door of the school in the morning. As I was wading through them to get in yesterday, I overheard this interaction:
Student 1: “COVER YOUR MOUTH WHEN YOU SNEEZE! Ain’t nobody trying to get rona.”
Student 2: “It’s not COVID. I just got a test.”
Student 1: “Better not be…”
This interaction took me back … and not because I’m afraid that I was exposed to COVID. In truth, sneezing actually isn’t a typical symptom of COVID. I was taken back because students had clearly internalized that covering your mouth when you sneeze was some specific COVID countermeasure and not basic hygiene and etiquette. I shouldn’t be surprised. Those kids are no more than ten years old and from the time they were seven COVID-19 has been public enemy number one. They likely haven’t had a normal school year since 2nd grade, and that’s around the time kids start learning to proper hygiene. It makes perfect sense that those students specifically would view those practices primarily as a form corona control, but that’s an issue.
Many young people have contextualized proper hygiene purely through the lens of COVID-19, and that’s a problem because it’s actually just something we should do regardless. There are a number of issues that come from centering our hygiene and cleanliness teaching on COVID.
First, there are diseases and illness besides COVID, and I don’t want to get them either. The flu and the common cold are not as big of an issue right now, but that doesn’t mean we should spread them around. This applies to kids and adults. We all know there is no shortage of people willing to take full advantage of their paid COVID time, but there are also those who will drag themselves into work while nursing a case of Bubonic-plague. Because of how our society values work, we tend to see this as a virtue … but it’s not. If you are actually sick stay home. If your kids are actually sick, keep them home.
The other issue with COVID politicization. There is backlash against all things COVID related. Students are not immune from this. The last thing anybody wants is students refusing to use basic hygiene practices as some form of protest against COVID measures.
Stopping the spread of COVID is harder than we initially predicted. It is easy to grow weary of the constant bombardment of handwashing, mouth covering, and isolating. But its important to remember that these are all things we did in the before times to prevent the spread of illnesses and kids should internalize them as best practice.