To ask school to stop sending home 'Class Pets'' (parasites)

[elfycat]

After a year in which my DDs have brought home nits every single half term since before LAST summer holiday. I've spend hours wet combing and a small fortune in Vamousse and had them 3 times myself. I've only ever had them once in 43 years prior to this

Before nit year we had thread worm year.

Today school have excelled themselves.

A fucking tick in DD2's (5) head.

Went home via the GP surgery and they twisted the thing out whole. It's in a jar which is going into school tomorrow and I'll keep an eye on her for temperature/rash as the area I'm on has had increasing numbers of lyme's disease cases over the last 5 years.

I was hoping to escape class pets this half term. We're not even a week in.

So WIBU to use extreme sarcasm tomorrow morning? And does anyone else have a vile parasite filled school.

Obviously I need to warn them about the ticks. The school backs onto farmland and an open air museum with farm animals

[KingJoffreyLikesJaffaCakes]

YANBU.

Send in a plague of locusts. That'll teach 'em.

[Ericaequites]

I live perhaps forty miles as the crow flies from Lyme, CT. I dig ticks from my body every few days. My tweener cousins have them almost daily. Lyme is very coomon here, and no product rids dogs and cats of those tiny ticks.
Burling irons are great for home removal. Covering the tick with petroleum jelly(Vaseline or A & D ointment) for a hour smothers the tick, and makes it easy to remove.

[Littlepeople12345]

My DC are 11&12 and have only had nits once. I blame their greasy hair. Dirty buggers only wash it once a week.

[FoxyLoxy123]

NO DO NOT SMOTHER A TICK IN VASELINE.

Everything these days tells you not to do that. Also do not singe it with a lighter. Get an o Tom tick twister and get rid of the buggers properly.

[chickenowner]

Ticks are not spread from person to person, but are caught when someone comes into contact with a tick living on a plant.

Your DC may not have caught them from school and certainly not from another child!

I really wish that people wouldn't automatically blame schools and teachers for everything. It's no wonder teachers are leaving the profession, this culture of blame just adds to the stress of the job.

[Spudlet]

Best bet for ticks is a tick hook. Pharmacies sell them (as do vets). Leaving them attached while you try butter or Vaseline or whatever gives them extra time to transmit any nasties the little buggers are carrying.

Also, eeewww.

[OurBlanche]

OP did explain why... look, under the strikethrough. Seems sensible to me!

[chickenowner]

The school backs onto farmland, so the farmland doesn't belong to the school!

And why does the OP feel the need to march up to the school with the tick in a jar?

[OurBlanche]

Erm... they can be aware, maybe send letters home, put soemthing onthe website... all the usual warning stuff. It isn't rocket science and happens quite a lot, about a wide range of issues.

Or should I say, where I used to work FE College, we would regularly warn students/parents if there was a health issue, even if it was not directly related to college. DSis (infants/junior school) does much the same. It is part and parcel of wider communication.

No one is suggesting that the school is responsible for the ticks, but they can heighten awareness, maybe hold a class on them, educate kids and parents on what they are, how to recognise them and how to remove them. That is fairly normal, in my experience.

[Lovepancakes]

I agree not that much the school can do but I'd tell them so they can ask parents to be vigilant and check for ticks daily May-Oct if need be! And also avoid long grass / unsuitable clothing / do anything sensible they can to avoid ticks.

I also want to emphasis Vaseline is warned against and safer removal and within 24 hours is crucial (one of our DC had Lyme and it's an awful thing. We never saw the tick that time but I now check constantly and remove them so carefully)

[elfycat]

I expect the school to warn other parents that there's ticks in the vegetation so they can keep an eye out for them and correctly identify them.

I expect the school to add into that warning that there is such a thing as Lyme Disease and that an ill child, especially one who had been bitten, should seek medical treatment if they have weird rashes or fevers.

I don't actually expect the school to do much else. I'm realistic about these things. I'm just fed up, and also impressed by the new escalation in terms of size and potential issues.

But I've reached a level of happy sarcasm when reporting things, so class letters can be sent out presumably to some parents who aren't checking or why the constant reinfection

Last half term, Friday of the first week.

Me: On Tuesday I handed you over my nit free child. However...
Teacher: Ahhh... however...
Both roll our eyes. Nuff said.

[Lovepancakes]

Mind you I would blame the school if they don't send a nit letter out every time they are found . As everyone needs to work together or they just reappear

[elfycat]

It has to be from school. It was in her hair where I style it and it wasn't there at 0830 when I tied her hair up. I noticed 'something' in her hair as we left school, but we were in a hurry to go to swimming lesson. I noticed the same thing in the same place as I washed her hair and tried to brush it off. As soon as I touched it I knew what it was.

[SuburbanRhonda]

So it's the school's responsibility to inform parents about ticks and Lyme disease?

Are there any other universal dangers you think schools need to assume responsibility for warning parents about?

[elfycat]

Wow Suburban...

in answer to your question.

Yes

I expect school to give a shit about their pupils and the fact that there's a potential illness carrying, blood sucking parasite on their premises.

[Penfold007]

Please, if you've found a tick on your child take it seriously. Lyme's Disease is a real issue, get your child checked by a medical professional and inform the school formally as in email them and CC it to the local authority and the governors.

[Dozer]

Meh to nits, but ticks sound bloody awful!

[elfycat]

Where did I say I wanted special lessons?

[Booboostwo]

YABU but difficult to know where to start with this one! Ticks are not transmitted from person to person, there is no need to say anything to the school and I am astounded you went to the GP to have a tick removed! And I say this as a parent who had to remove a tick from DD's head this week and my belly last week, as well as dealing with nits and ringworm earlier this year. Get a little tick removal gadget from any pet shop or chemists.

[WellErrr]

YABU.

Ticks take a few days to get big. They're about the size of a pinhead when they first bite. She's likely had it a day or two and you've only just noticed it as it's got big enough to see/feel.

And regarding nits, children get nits at school. Apart from washing and combing out each child's head on a regular basis, there's not much the teachers can do.