Importance Of Sanitation In Schools

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Introduction: Much like water, food and shelter, sanitation is also and equally important part of society. Without sanitation, the other mentioned necessities to life such as water and food would not be effective. Furthermore, unsanitary living conditions lead to dangerous diseases which can sometimes lead to catastrophic consequences for civilization. Also in a lot of ways, proper sanitation provides the appropriate dignity and respect to people in a civilized society. However, the state of, and the way sanitation is looked at in varies country by country. Depending on the availability of infrastructure as well as how it is viewed has various impacts on society. An important part of society is how children are raised and educated as they…show more content…
Religion is not usually part of the school curriculum but people who follow them learn it from their families at a young age because it is practiced at home. Since the Shinto gods are believed to hate filth, followers think the same. When one enters a Shinto shrine has to wash their hands in cold water which is thought of a purifying act, cleansing them of filth. Likewise, in Buddhism the importance of cleanliness is emphasized. In Japanese schools, children are taught about the history of Japan and how there were several epidemics and natural disasters. Everyone has become aware of the need to keep their environment clean to keep the people living in Japan safe. ‘Osoji’, which is a Japanese word for ‘Cleaning’ is taught in schools. It’s not taught per say but it is something that is thought of as so normal. It’s like lunch to us. They clean in small groups called ‘han’. The children clean classrooms, hallways and sometimes even the toilets. At some schools, there are not any janitors which means that the cleanliness of the school lays in the hands of the…show more content…
As there are no custodians, it teaches them responsibility and not making unnecessary messes. This practice also teaches the children respect for their elders, and for themselves and feeds into the politeness of Japanese people. The people care for more than themselves and will go out of their way to clean up after their messes and even the messes on others. ‘Osoji’ has more of an impact on the children when they are in elementary school but once they grow to be middle and high schoolers, as expected there is a change in attitude. There have been reports of teenagers littering more on the streets and not cleaning up after themselves. As Japanese culture is mixing with the western culture, people have become less strict on their children and customs have changed. This is one of the reasons that ‘Osoji’ has been less enforced in schools. Japan’s

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