MK Uri Maklev is concerned over the sandboxes found in daycare centers around the country, which he feels are a source of spreading illness and disease among the children who play in them. He feels there must be something done to maintain the sandboxes safely via cooperation between local government and the Education Ministry.
Maklev made his comments during a meeting of the Knesset Committee on Child Welfare, with a Health Ministry representative attending the session confirming Maklev’s concerns over the spread of illness.
Maklev explained that he is well aware of the role a sandbox plays in the development of children at a certain age but this cannot be done at the expense of one’s health. He feels that the ministry or local health officials are ignoring the dangers posed by the sandboxes, which he insists have been tied to illnesses, placing the responsibility on each facility to make certain sandboxes are properly maintained.
Education Ministry official Rotem Zahavi, who is responsible for environmental safety in the ministry, tried to calm committee members explaining “Yes, there is a problem but it is not catastrophic”, signaling panic by MK Regev. He explains that local municipalities should have the sandbox inspected once annually, and if required the localfchange the sand once a year if required, which is determined by inspecting each location. In addition, ultimately, the responsibility for the sandboxes is that of the Education Ministry.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
He should prioritize measures to control the cat population,
number 1 you are correct as this will control one of the sandbox problems. However the current law in Israel does not allow for the reduction of feral cat populations except under extremely dire circumstances. The trap neuter release policy in place today has never been shown to be effective. Perhaps all of our politicians should spend some time in the field learning about these problems and then amending the law to allow municipal veterinarians to work in keeping the country cleaner
Kids have been playing in sandboxes literally since brias with no proven ill effects so please fund something else to campaign against.
By the way exactly how do you maintain sand?
Since Bria’s ha’olam
avi732, Sorry but you are soooo wrong on this one.
What the feral cats and other creatures in rural areas leave behind is extremely dangerous, beyond unsanitary. My daughter years ago developed a full-blown case of impetigo from sandbox play, which was spreading all over her face, neck, and on down. It was painful and dangerous, and she had to take powerful internal and external antibiotics. And this was not in the wild Mideast – it was in White Lake, NY! Where the animals that snoop and do their thing in the sand are raccoons, perhaps skunks…I said nothing in response to my toddler getting constantly bullied with the big kids dumping sand all over his head and into his eyes – wrong both physically and emotionally – but i took a stand after this. Especially when other kids caught it too. Other kids picked up parasites and pin worms galore, as well! It’s endemic. Don’t soapbox -do your research. These are miserable and contagious conditions. When we care for our children’s safety we don’t rely on how no one ever died in a sandbox, or who did that stuff 45 years ago? We use real facts on the ground, assess risks, and take precautionary measures at the very least – legislate if need be. There are car seat safety regs. There are the same for swimming pools, playground equipment, cribs and high chairs, etc etc – and for good reason. It is so easy to rule sandboxes must be covered overnight and sifted through weekly, and the sand changed once a season. that seems to me perfectly fair to expect, and then – watch the statistics improve. This MK is right on.