Teaching our children about cleanliness begins practically from the moment they are born. We go to great efforts to keep our children clean, and also to separate them from what is impure. We wash and bath them and change their diapers.
The message we are giving our children is that we must keep ourselves clean, and also, we must keep ourselves pure. The cleanliness of our bodies and surroundings is one of the principal foundations of purity. Physical cleanliness is essential for good health. The body can only function properly when it cleanses itself of its various waste products. We must play our part in the cleansing process by with proper habits of toilet, washing and general cleanliness.
There are no fixed rules about when to start training children in proper habits of hygiene and cleanliness. Most parents have an intuitive understanding of their children, and will know when to start and how to guide each child in accordance with his or her age, character and level of development.
The obvious first practical step is when we start teaching children to use the toilet and everything that goes with this. This is usually around the age of two or three, sometimes earlier, sometimes later. Training a child may take anywhere between four or five weeks to six months or more. Parents seeking guidance in toilet-training a child can turn to others who already have experience or to a doctor.
In the first stages of teaching a child to use the toilet, each time the child needs to go, the parent etc. goes with the child to help him. This is the time to start teaching the child in his language and according to his level of understanding that dirt and waste are not good for us and we must remove them from our bodies and flush them away. For this very reason, we must not hold back when we need to attend to our needs. As soon as we feel the need, we should go as soon as possible.
We must teach the child to clean himself properly, and then wash his hands thoroughly with soap and water. The next step is to encourage the child to manage independently in the restroom without needing help, being sure to practice the rules of cleanliness and hygiene that he has learned.
Washing hands after our night-time sleep, before prayer, before eating breakfast, after attending to our bodily needs and on other occasions is an integral part of the daily life .
As children grow older and become more understanding, we should explain to them why we must keep our hands clean. We carry millions of tiny microbes on our hands. Most are not harmful, but some can cause infections, diarrhea, parasites, flu and even more serious illnesses. Harmful microbes can pass onto our bodies from contact with dirt in the toilet, dirty towels, door handles, stair-rails and the like handled by people carrying infectious microbes. If we touch our mouths, nose, ears, eyes or an open cut or wound with dirty hands, these microbes can enter inside our bodies. Thorough washing of the hands greatly reduces the risk of infection by these microbes.
Children should be taught to wash their hands carefully after…
- Leaving the toilet or bathroom
- Touching garbage and anything dirty
- Touching an open cut or sore
- Touching an animal, bird or insect
- Touching raw meat or fish
Before… - Touching food
- Eating
- Tending a cut or sore
- Inserting or removing contact lenses
The hands should be washed with soap and water. When hot water is not available, the hands should be washed thoroughly with cold water and soap. The entire surface of the hand should be washed up to the wrist, including the palms and back of the hands, the fingers and under the nails. The hands should be rubbed together with soap and rinsed well with water. The hands should be dried with a clean towel.
Factors that contribute to better standards of hygiene and cleanliness include:
- Adequate supplies of water in the toilet
- Soap for washing of hands
- Clean towels. Where possible in educational and other institutions, these should be disposable, or hand-drying machines should be provided.
- It is best to keep children’s nails short, and they should be taught the importance of keeping them clean.
- Parents should provide their children with tissues to clean their noses.
- Parents and teachers must repeatedly remind children about the importance of keeping their hands clean in order to make sure that the message gets across.