An experiment done by a teacher in Idaho, USA is making rounds online after she proves to her students that washing hands properly is an important practice.
Jeralee Metcalf, a behavioral specialist from Idaho Falls Elementary School, showed how washing hands is needed to kill germs and prevent bacteria from spreading—especially since it is the flu season.
In the experiment, she asked some of her students with different levels of hand cleanliness to touch five pieces of bread from the same loaf at the same time. The slices of bread were put in plastic zip locks each and were pinned inside her classroom for one month to observe what will happen to the bread.
The first slice was rubbed on classroom laptops, the second one—the control piece—was untouched, the third was touched the entire class with unwashed hands, the fourth one was touched by the students who washed their hands with warm water and soap, and the fifth piece was touched by kids who only used hand sanitizer.
After one month, the first slice turned black almost all over, proving Metcalf’s point that sanitizing laptops is also vital. The second slice remained having the same look, as well as the fourth slice—which was touched by hands washed with water and soap. The third slice, which was touched by unwashed hands, was covered with molds, while the fifth one, which was touched by hands cleaned by sanitizer, also had some molds on one side.
“As somebody who is sick and tired of being sick and tired of being sick and tired. Wash your hands! Remind your kids to wash their hands! And hand sanitizer is not an alternative to washing hands!! At all,” said Metcalf in her Facebook post, which has garnered 20,000 likes and 70,000 shares.
