Anti-flu hygiene

I would like to respond to the letter from William J. Nicholas on the subject of containing the spread of the swine flu ("Curbing the Flu," Sept. 15). His suggestion of placing boxes of Kleenex-type tissue in each classroom and requiring each student to take one is impractical at best.

By the time they reach school age, students should already have mastered the subject of personal hygiene. This is a parental responsibility, not a responsibility of the school the child attends. The homeroom teacher has no time to check to make sure each student has taken a tissue for his or her own use. It again is the parents' and students' job to make sure they have a clean handkerchief or tissue supply prior to departing for school.

Also schools, as everyone knows, are great breeding grounds for viruses as students come in close contact with one another at any given time and the virus spreads like wildfire. The best way to contain this is what has already been said many times: If your children are sick, keep them home until they are well again. Also reinforce personal hygiene at home by washing your hands and covering that cough or sneeze.

KARL AUFMAN
McCandless