Survey shows how Canadians will be prepping kids for returning to school

PHOTO: Wikimedia Commons/Arsdac

TORONTO — Dial Canada — a hand soap and other personal-care products manufacturer — released results of its survey that asked Canadians to weigh in on how COVID-19 has impacted their handwashing practices.

The results of the recent survey include:

Prioritizing instructions for kids’ return to school:

• Washing hands more frequently and thoroughly was the overwhelming leader with 42% of the respondents identifying handwashing as the number 1 priority instruction for children
• Participants in the survey identified instructing children to practice social distancing as the second-highest priority, according to 25% of the respondents who said distance was key
• Some 12% suggested instructing children not to share personal items, including food and snacks — giving it third-place priority ranking
• Wearing a mask was the fourth-highest ranking priority according to only 11% of the respondents who identified masks as a priority item for children upon their return to school
• Cleaning and sanitizing backpacks and contents when arriving home from school ranked fifth with 7% of the survey participants seeing this as a priority instruction
• Rounding out the list of priority instructions for children, limiting afterschool activities, was low on the priority instruction list with only 3% identifying afterschool activities as the most important instruction for children when returning to school

Parents’ concerns that children’s handwashing practices may lapse when they go back to school:

• Half of respondents (49.7%) said they’re “somewhat concerned” and another 38.1% admitted they’re “very concerned” about their kids’ lapsed handwashing habits when they return to school (a combined 88% of respondents said they are either “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” about their kids’ handwashing practices lapsing when they return to school)
• 12.2% said they’re either “not very concerned” or “not concerned at all” about their kids’ handwashing practices when they return to class
• Meanwhile, 9.1% claimed they’re “not very concerned” and only 3.1% said they’re “not at all concerned” about their kids’ handwashing practices as they return to class

“Our survey clearly indicates that Canadian parents believe that frequent and thorough handwashing should be a key priority for Canadian children returning to school,” said Maya Atallah, senior brand manager, Dial, Henkel Canada Corporation, in a prepared statement.