In what could, hopefully, become a trend, an Arizona woman has been campaigning for more hygienic playgrounds.
A late October item by the Chicago Tribune’s Monica Eng, reported that Erin Carr-Jordan has spent much of the last eight months calling attention to dirty conditions at indoor fast-food playgrounds.
As a result one of the world’s leading fast-food chains has banned her from entering its operations.
‘Carr-Jordan believes she was banned from the restaurants for sharing lab results with local health authorities showing the presence of infectious staph bacteria, among other pathogens at a restaurant.
‘Two days after health officials arrived for a “complaint inspection”, she received a letter from the franchisee’s lawyer telling her she was prohibited from visiting the locations. Under Arizona statutes, a person who enters private property after “a reasonable request to leave” can be charged with criminal trespass,’ stated the Tribune report.
The food chain spokesperson said the ban was prompted not by the health inspection but because Carr-Jordan’s actions had “become disruptive to the employees and customers within our franchisee’s restaurants.”
Carr-Jordan, who teaches psychology at Arizona State University in Tempe, says she has documented graffiti, grime and pathogens at play areas in 13 states in hopes of spurring legislation requiring inspections and other regulations for the playgrounds, which currently fall through the regulatory cracks.
Illinois state representative Jack Franks, D-Marengo, said he would file a bill requiring playgrounds to be inspected for safety and cleanliness.
“I went with my kids to one of these places, and I felt like I was a pinkeye factory,” Franks said. “Kids were getting sick, and the places weren’t cleaned. … this is a question of public safety.”
Since posting about the ban on Facebook on Monday, Carr-Jordan has heard from outraged parents around the country, some volunteering to pick up her cause.
“Parents are a force to be reckoned with,” she said. “And if they all get involved, this will turn into something much bigger. But right now I just want to see better regulation, bring awareness to the problem and get some dangerous conditions corrected.”