There is nothing more annoying than chewing gum under your shoe or under your table when you are at school. It’s dirty, sticky and if you step in it, it takes a while to remove. At the Lorentz Casimir-Lyceum in Eindhoven they are fed up with it. To point it out to students and improve their behaviour, sticky mats and collection boxes are used.
Students at the Casimir looked strangely on Tuesday morning when they were stuck to the ground upon entering. Sticky mats had been placed at the entrance, to remind the youngsters of that annoying feeling of chewing gum under your shoe.
The playful “sticky action” was organised by Nederland Schoon (Netherlands clean), which also visited schools in Amsterdam and Groningen. In addition to the sticky mats, gum collection boxes have also been placed. Students can throw in their old chewing gum. The canisters will remain in the canteens for three months. The school that eventually collects the most gum wins a foosball table.
Under tables or chairs
“A lot of times when I hold the table to pull my chair over, I grab full in the gum. That’s really filthy”, one of the students says. “Everyone does it”, Ralph Viskaal believes. “I have to admit that I do it myself sometimes. It’s just easy. You can get up and walk to the trash can, but no one sees it under your table, so then it’s not my problem anymore”.
But whether such a contest is really going to help? “I don’t think so”, Justin Schenkels says. “I think most people don’t care about table soccer and remain too lazy to throw it in the trash”. Annabel Vluggen does expect the campaign to get her classmates thinking. “It’s considered normal now, but I think they’ll start paying more attention to it this way”. For Ralph, that certainly holds true. “I’m motivated now, though, because I want to win”, he laughs.
Source: Studio040
Translated by: Bob
