Yuck!

Picking their noses and eating dirt would often be listed as “hobbies” if toddlers had resumes, but these activities might seem pretty hygienic compared to letting our young ‘uns play in those convenient mini-playgrounds often attached to fast food restaurants or found in mini-malls to entertain the kids while mom or dad shops their net worth away. Erin M. Carr-Jordan is “mommy” to four children and is deeply concerned at the level of germ activity in these ersatz playgrounds. She is also a PhD (in psychology) and a professor of child-development in her hometown of Chandler Arizona and a founder of an organization (kidsplaysafe.net) that champions safe environments for our children.

“In recent months the 36-year-old mom and developmental psychologist from Arizona said she has visited and videotaped more than 50 such playlands as well as sending swabs for microbial testing… On a humid Monday morning, Erin Carr-Jordan was crawling through the tubey slides of a McDonald's PlayPlace on [Chicago’s] West Side…When she got to the top of the colorful structure, she peered through a cloudy plastic window and mouthed the words: ‘This is bad. This is really bad.’…

“A reporter crawled through a few minutes later to find sticky surfaces, filmy windows, several broken pieces of equipment, food morsels in every compartment, trapped hair, garbage and thick black schmutz in most crevices... ‘Without a doubt, this was one of the worst and definitely in the top five," she said after climbing out of the tubes. ‘There was food everywhere.’... Carr-Jordan, who is combining her playland testing with a family road-trip vacation, says she has seen similar conditions in many restaurants across the country…She's found that some fast-food companies regularly clean their playlands and are happy to provide customers with their cleaning protocols — she singles out Chick-fil-A — but that representatives of Burger King, Chuck E. Cheese's and McDonald's have either indicated they don't have any such protocols or have not responded.” Chicago Tribune, July 12^th.

Since she is not a micro-biologist, Carr-Jordan sent the swabs she took from such play areas to profession testing laboratories. “What the inspections and lab analyses have revealed is the widespread presence of an array of pathogens, from coliform bacteria to staphylococcus, at levels that experts said indicated that restaurants might not be disinfecting their playlands as diligently as they should.” New York Times, September 17^th. This has been a journey of passion and dedication from this Arizona professor.

“Dr. Carr-Jordan’s campaign, which has attracted the attention of the fast-food industry, began in April when she stopped at a McDonald’s near her Phoenix-area home because one of her sons needed to go to the bathroom. On the way out, her children asked if they could play in the children’s park, which McDonald’s calls a PlayPlace. She assented and accompanied her children inside… What she saw was alarming.

‘My kids were going, ‘Yuck!’ ’ she recalled of the scene, which she videotaped with her cellphone and posted on YouTube. ‘It was gross and sticky. There were curse words and gang graffiti. The windows were black. There was matted hair and an abandoned Band-Aid.’ … Despite complaints to the manager and several follow-up visits, the play area was not cleaned, she said. So Dr. Carr-Jordan, who has a Ph.D. in developmental psychology but is no expert in microbiology, had samples tested. When the results were analyzed by Legend Technical Services Inc., an environmental testing company, they indicated the presence of potentially harmful bacteria, and she began inspecting and testing the playgrounds at other fast-food restaurants in her neighborhood. Lab results — she has since switched to another commercial lab — showed that most were far from clean, she said.” NY Times.

Such nasty reports are more common than consumers might want to think. Want some more details at other yucky sites? “We found dirt and grime and rotting food and hair in clumps and swear words all over the place. Graffiti. Equipment in disrepair that is broken. Second-story windows that are busted out. Slides that have large gashes in them. You name it -- if it's a thing you don't want your child being exposed to, we found it inside these play lands… We found several strands of opportunistic pathogens, in other words, things that can cause infection or disease. We found stuff that causes meningitis, food-borne illness, skin, hair, eye infections ... fecal contamination, coliforms, quite a few things can make children ill, and several of which are multi-drug resistant and potentially fatal."” Huffington Post, September 19^th.

Like Dr. Carr-Jordan, Americans who speak out for positive change can and do make a difference. It is just those of us who say, “well, that’s just the way the world is” that have to share the blame with those who cause the problems.

I’m Peter Dekom, and speaking up does make a difference.