To think schools should take nits more seriously?

I’ve taught (albeit secondary) for 25 years and have a Yr 5 and Yr 8 child. We have never had nits! Are some people immune?

A school can't have the same policy for head lice as it does for chickenpox & flu.....that's utterly ridiculous. The former are serious illnesses, the latter is a very treatable parasite.

As for the treatment being subsidised- if you are in Scotland I think it is covered by minor aliments/free prescriptions. If you are in England I guess you have to pay the same as you would for Calpol, plasters or any other care your child requires.

When I volunteered in schools we were not allowed to examine individual children for head lice even if we saw them scratching. It's not that staff don't want to help, it's that they don't have the power.

I agree with keeping hair short, unfortunately. I have boys and neither of them have had head lice yet even though ds1's has been shoulder length at times.

When my dd got nits a few mums tried to blame me....well dd got them from someone else. And yes, I did constantly comb and treat her hair with lotion.
Dd had thick, long hair though so it was tricky to get them all.
Nits are a pita but what can schools do? They cant send home kids with nits. They could have a nit nurse ( who would volunteer to do that?)

Reported to who?

if someone is regularly coming in and not being treated school may record it as part of a bigger picture but no external agency is going to do anything about normal cases of nits treated or not

We can't talk to individual parents even if we know their child has nits. All we can do is a class text/letter advising everyone that there is a case in the class. I know that many can't afford hedrin and won't spend hours combing. It's never ending.

What a waste of NHS money given that treatment is not necessary.

As long as you don’t complain that you’re paying more tax or another public service has been cut just so schools can have dedicated nit nurses and you can have subsidised treatment.

In loco parentis has taken on a whole new meaning.

I have called many parents about headline in my long career as a teacher. Some parents are mortified, some are furious, some don't give a shit and some blame everyone else. The worst case I have seen was a girl who has them crawling in her eyebrows but her mum didn't want to pay out for treatment.

Can you imagine the furore if a kid was sent home with nits from some of the parents on here ...

I’ve worked in schools and some kids are literally dripping with lice and you can see their heads moving.

Parents won’t take responsibility so that leaves parents like yourself in a continuous cycle.

It was unfortunately that not my DDs were in classes with two neglected sisters.

Tea tree oil in shampoo and conditioner and a few drops in their hair between washes keeps them out.

I'm agree with you .

They should send children with lice home and insist parents treat within 24 hours so the child can return. The lice may not be gone, but they need to show signs of trying. (I long for the days when children had to be nit free to return but understand that change)

i know, there are all sorts of parents who just won’t treat their children, but not treating your child for lice is neglect. It should be reported appropriately.

Years ago, there was a big recurring outbreak in DS1's preschool class. The teachers actually did do checks - their own kids attended and we're catching them too!

It was so bad, a lot of boys who'd previously had longer hair had it buzzed right down - along with one of the girls!

Best way is combing through weekly with cheap conditioner and nitty gritty comb. Catch them early before it’s a proper infestation. You can get Hedrin ( nit treatment) and nitty gritty comb free on minor ailments at the chemists. Am in Scotland though perhaps different elsewhere.

Yes.

Hedrin Once is the only treatment. (Every 7 days)
Keep all brushes in freezer.
Use Nitty Gritty comb and conditioner and comb comb comb every 2 days until all gone.
No need to wash clothes etc.
Just keep combing.

You could at one point get the stuff for free as part of the common prescription scheme but this may have ended. Nitty gritty is best. As is short hair and for me, daily use of hair straighteners meant I never got them. My daughter with fine hair was easy to treat. It was my daughter with thick hair who had to have several combings.

If you've only treated your kid for nits 'several times' since January, it's not enough. It needs doing at the very least weekly. Nitty gritty comb, conditioner. Keep your kids hair short or tied back. Parents should be told this in antenatal classes.

I assume you're washing bedding and clothing anyway right? That said, nits live on human scalps, not soft furnishings.

I notice some cultures keep their kids' hair (boys & girls) grade 1 or 2 through the primary years to avoid nits.

At the end of the day, having nits doesn't really affect kids anyway - the little fuckers never seem to be bothered IMO.

I don’t think nits or cockroaches are evil.

Anything with that kind of ability to survive has to be admired from an evolutionary perspective.

It’s humans who are a cancer on Earth, not nits or cockroaches.

Schools haven’t got time to regularly check children for head lice, forcing children to stay at home with head lice would also mean children who are already disadvantaged would be regularly missing school. I’m a teacher and the children I’ve taught with persistent headlice have almost been the ones coming from dysfunctional families and known to social services etc.

As for subsidised treatments, you really don’t need to buy the expensive treatments, headlice can be effectively eradicated just by a thorough and daily combing with a nit comb.

I’ve lived in three other EU countries where this isn’t true and they have the exact same nit problems as the UK.

Perhaps it’s the whole “broken society” thing you’re actually railing at. Either focus on the root causes Or learn to live with it - this too will pass!!

My county has THREE school nurses, for the whole county, to cover everything. Training for diabetic children takes priority but even that is now usually via video training. I can't imagine how many nurses would be needed for nits! Parents need to take responsibility , conditioner and comb every night!

I also think head lice treatment should be subsidised, it's terribly expensive (£10 a bottle, and we need at least two for each treatment). AIBU?

No treatment shouldn't be subsidised as there is absolutely no need to use it in the first place. The most effective treatment for head lice is wet coming with conditioner. It's time consuming and a pain but far more effective then treatments which headline become resistant to.

Schools shouldn't have to police it but maybe someone should run traning seasons for parents on how to treat it effectively.

Nits were found in fossil stones once , it was discovered that cave men and women had them too , they will probably survive WW3 along with all the cockroaches
Nasty evil things

It's a terrible idea that children should stay home if they have nits. It's likely that the children whose parents don't treat them are parents who don't pay much attention to their DC's needs (for whatever reason). To force them to spend even more time in that environment and get behind with their education seems wrong.

I agree that lots of conditioner and regular, thorough nit combing are the best approach to clearing nits. A electric nit comb is also useful and very satisfying when it catches one of the little buggers . And keep combing long after you think you've got them all. You only need to miss one egg and in a few weeks the whole cycle begins again. And learn to very French braid to reduce the chances of re infection.

I'm very happy that I no longer have to deal with this problem days but I also miss the enforced intimacy of sitting with a small child sat in the floor in front of me whilst I combed and combed and combed. We watched a lot of Disney movies that way.

Ask your gp or school nurse to prescribe a treatment…,my DD has never paid