What could be waiting for your children in play areas? Bacteria!
From the archive. This post was first published on the original Green Eggs and Moms blog and is kept here as it was.
Have you heard of Dr. Carr-Jordan? The US mom who was banned from several McDonald’s branches because she exposed the dirty truth about their play areas?
What did she find? According to News.Gather.com:
Carr-Jordan, an Arizona State University professor, videotaped human waste, bodily fluids, old food and damaged equipment. She also took swab samples to a microbiologist who found evidence of staph infection and other unsafe bacteria at fast food play areas.
What about here in the Philippines? Are our kids safe in play areas?
In all honesty, I don’t know. It’s not like you can go around swabbing places before allowing your children to play in them. (Someone from the government ought to do this though.)
I have been to several play areas that seemed to require more “maintaining”. I visited one recently and when I entered with my child, I noticed several dirty corners in the room. The rubber mats seemed somewhat dingy and the bathroom was, well… stenchy. I immediately asked a staff member for a pen, piece of paper and the suggestion box.
To some degree, it’s okay to expose children to dirt . However, there are real dangers out there, such as the staph infection threat Dr. Carr-Jordan found lurking in fast food play areas.
Before allowing your children to enjoy in kiddie places, do a quick inspection and ask the staff about their cleaning process. If you are comfortable with what you see, let your child play. If not, find another place.
For additional reading on staph infections, click on the links below:
Kids Health Org
eHow Health
Photo: Creative Commons from kaibara87