During the 2020-2021 school tear at The Village High School, because of COVID-19, multiple staff members stand outside the school gate in the mornings to check students’ temperatures and sanitize their hands before they can enter the building. This is the only time in the school day that this happens, other than for athletes who have practice after school. However, students should have their hands sanitized before eating their lunch as well. 

When students get their IDs scanned, that would be the perfect time and spot for them to sanitize their hands. In fact, there is a bottle of sanitizer in that area, but it is not mandatory to use, nor do many students use it. However, students are most exposed to the virus during lunch, because their masks are down while dining, and the number of pathogens that could travel from their hands to their food and mouth is staggering. . Therefore, enforcing the use of sanitizer before lunch would keep students much safer. 

“It makes me a little anxious seeing my friends eat with their hands, without washing or sanitizing them,” said sophomore Lucy Payne, a campus learning student. “I’m just imaging all the germs that are getting into their food.”

The bacteria building on a student’s hands throughout the day creates a huge risk for them. Even if this does not cause students to contract the virus, it may lead to similar symptoms such as coughing, fever, or sore throat. 

“I remember one time waking up with a fever, and I have never been more terrified,” said senior Salome Bovin, another student who goes to school in person. “I thought I had covid, but thankfully I tested negative. However, I still couldn’t come to school because I didn’t want to pass it down to others.”

There is no clear answer as to why Bovin got the fever but there is a possibility it could be from the lack of sanitary safety at school during lunch. Sanitizing students’ hands before they eat not only protects them from the virus, but it also protects them from any other pathogens that cause routine sicknesses. 

It is understandable that the teaching staff wants to make sure students walk into the building with clean hands. However, if there was a rule to sanitize hands before lunch, it would enhance sanitary measures even more at The Village School, because it protects students at a moment they are most vulnerable.