What are your views on the current news story about human excrement living on our mobile phones?

I have written a newspaper article for my sixth form informing students about dirty mobile phones!

DON’T TALK DIRTY

STOP.THINK.WASH
Have you ever thought about what may be lurking around on your mobile phones’ without even knowing about it? You may have already seen on the news about recent research discovering that one in six mobile phones in Britain are contaminated with human excrement! That is approximately the same as 400 students within Thurston Community College and because of the large numbers of students and the close proximity the germs can be spread very quickly. All down to one thing: we are failing to wash our hands properly after going to the toilet.

Researchers have travelled to 12 different cities around the UK and took 390 samples from mobile phones and hands, which were tested in a lab to discover what type of germs, were on our mobile phones. Scientists discovered that the further north they travelled the increase in the levels of Bacteria appeared. Glasgow was the dirtiest city with an average of nine times higher than Brighton. However Londoners were caught with the highest proportion of E-coli present on hands.

E-coli is bacteria, which can be found in the bowl, and can be potentially life threatening causing severe vomiting and diarrhea leading to dehydration and organ failure – and a simple action to prevent these illnesses is to wash our hands with soap after using the toilet.
Bacteria can survive on hands and surfaces for hours spreading easily by touching door handles, food and mobile phones. From there, other people can pick up germs at a rapid pace. Just think about how many people touch the doors in our corridors and the surfaces in our classrooms every day and may not have washed their hands after using the toilet.

So, how can we make our school more hygienic? It’s easy. At school and home members of staff and students need to start washing their hands properly after using the toilet. This doesn’t mean sticking our hands under a tap for a couple of seconds and expecting our hands to be clean. This means using soap and washing thoroughly. Next time you use the toilet, just remember how many germs you will be carrying and passing on if you fail to clean your hands.
So lets stop cross-contamination at school.