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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that kids with nits should be sent home

188 replies

JugglingNStruggling · 13/06/2012 22:29

I don't know why kids aren't sent home if they have nits and prevented from coming back to school until their parents get rid of them
at the moment there seem to be a fair number of parents who don't seem to care if their child goes to school with nits and gives them to everybody in sight
I don't think there should be a stigma to catch nits, but there should be one if you keep coming to school and inflicting it on everybody else's kids
The school & other parents expect me to keep my kids at home if they are sick or have diarrhoea (not a notifiable disease) and I think this is quite reasonable and abide by this
The school and parents expect me not to give my kids peanut butter sandwiches in case somebody is allergic to nuts and I think this is quite reasonable and abide by this
Why can't this be extended to nits
Why do some parents seem to think that it is not unreasonable to inflict nits on everybody else

OP posts:
kerala · 14/06/2012 19:21

OP has a point but I speak as someone with a child with very unusual hair a nit infestation means a near 2 hour treatment session last time we both ended up in tears. Other child has normal hair took about 20 minutes. Anything to avoid passing them on should be done IMO.

ReportMeNow · 14/06/2012 19:37

My hands itch to nit comb a little girl's hair in dd's class, you can see them.

The school aren't even allowed to send out whole class letters anymore warning parents about nits and how to treat. How mad is that?

bogeyface · 14/06/2012 20:31

Alot of schools dont bother sending out the letters as they dont seem to work. Those that care are already aware and check regularly and those that dont, wont read the letter. Waste of time and money really, so you can see why schools dont bother.

bogeyface · 14/06/2012 20:32

When I was pg with mixed race DD, my worst fear was that she would have afro hair like her mixed race cousins, not for any other reason than nits. I know from family that it is so much harder to comb afro hair. She does have lots of curls but not afro thankfully.

Shelly32 · 14/06/2012 21:33

If kids can get sent home for inappropriate hair colouring/piercings/tattoos (all of which affect noone else) they should be sent home from school if they have parasites in their hair that can spread to others. My kids have never had nits. If they did , nits aren't hard to treat. A trip to the chemist (or doctor's surgery for parents who can't afford over the counter treatment) will soon put an end to them. My mum works at a primary school and picked up nits. One dose of something (pesticide free) and she was nit free.
It should be the responsibility of the parent but yes, some parents are feckless, so why not let schools administer nit treatment?

Shelly32 · 14/06/2012 21:34

Report menow MAD!

ScorpionQueen · 14/06/2012 22:03

Piercings, hair colourants etc. are a choice. Some kids have parents who cba to treat their hair and it's not fair to send them home when school is a nicer place.

There should be the power to treat these children but then if the adults/others in the household aren't also treated, what is the point?

bogeyface · 14/06/2012 22:30

To those who say "Why cant the school treat them" , I can only assume you have never worked or spent anytime as a non-pupil in a school!

School nurses can cover a whole towns worth of primary schools by themselves now, gone are the days when each school had its own nurse! Teachers certainly dont have time, so who else will do it? It would have to be done between 9 and 3 as parents who dont treat will not allow them to stay behind at inconvenience to them, so the child misses either playtime with their friends or lesson time.

"Just let the schools treat" is not as simple as it appears, otherwise it would have been done back in the day of nitty nora when no one gave a shit about how the kids felt!

bogeyface · 14/06/2012 22:32

And as Scorpion said, treating at school treats the child but not the family, so one week later the kid is riddled again, it solves nothing.

Which leads me on to why parents, who must catch them from their kids, dont want to to treat as they cant find it particularly pleasant either.

bogeyface · 14/06/2012 22:33

Oh, and a further thought....

did anyone know a nit nurse who was actually called Nora?! :o

Rabbitee · 14/06/2012 22:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

bogeyface · 14/06/2012 22:43

Fairy nuff Rabbitee, as it happens, I havent! But that kind of thing is often trotted out by people who have no idea how hard it would be to implement.

So given your experience, how would you implement it in a low cost and minimal disruption way?

bogeyface · 14/06/2012 22:44

Oh and Rabitee, can I say I am disappointed?

When I saw "yes I have" I thought you were going to say that your mum was nit nurse called Nora :o

Rockpool · 14/06/2012 22:56

When I was teaching we did send kids home,there were fewer cases as a result(unlike the epidemic of today).It really wasn't an issue.They went home,they came back nit free.

Having to pick up a child when you're busy and not being able to return them until they're nit free works like you wouldn't believe.I've known kids return that afternoon.

Other countries do this,it's madness that we don't.

My dd had it repeatedly last year(from one particular girl who was totally crawling).It just went round and round all the girls as not only was she infested her long hair wasn't tied up.One mother even bought her mother some stuff in desperation.Total madness.

I'd have no problem picking any of my dc up and buying expensive Hedrin if I knew as a result it would be a once a year occurrence at most.

TupperwareTwat · 14/06/2012 23:10

YABU.

My DDs have left school now so I miss those Friday nights when I would condition and wet comb their hair as a precaution after clearing an infestation.

I nearly always found lice during one phase that lasted several months!

I used to love squashing the big fat juicy ones between my thumbnails and hearing them crunch.

I used to delouse my sister's DCs and the DDs friends!

My DS starts primary school in 2013 so I guess I will have it all to do again!

BetterChoicesChair · 14/06/2012 23:14

Kids at our school are sent home immediately if they have lice ( and they are almost unheard of here).

I went to primary school in the UK; we had a nit lady called NORA Grin.

Rabbitee · 14/06/2012 23:18

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

severnofnine · 14/06/2012 23:32

Does anyone have any tips for stopping reinfestation?? I am combing through several times a week and although no longer infested wit eggs still getting the occasional live one. It think they must be getting them from school. none in DH and I thankfully for a while.

Ive tried tea tree..... didnt work unless i put enough on so you could smell my children before you saw them. plus gave DS2 a sore scalp

Has anyone found anything that acts as a nit repellent???I'm think some frizz ease may help because it has silicon in it. what do you think?

Rabbitee · 14/06/2012 23:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

severnofnine · 14/06/2012 23:56

Its weird though we didnt have any problems at all until DS2 started school.... he must be quite cuddly. DS1 seems to prefer his own personal space.
I'm worried about passengers becoming fully fledged sat combing eggs out for 2 hour infestations though.

will try vosene thanks

bogeyface · 14/06/2012 23:59

There are some nit repellants seven but ime they dont work.. If you have girls then a tight bun smothered in hairspray (from forehead back) can help, but I have decided to start a fashion of headscarves (in school gingham, natch Wink) in the hope it will prevent them.

bogeyface · 15/06/2012 00:00

Yay better , that has made my day :o

bogeyface · 15/06/2012 00:01

I have 4 at school, 3 at primary. 4 hour bathtimes are the norm here, but you just have to deal with it ime as getting angry doesnt change anything and just makes the job harder for you and the kids.

NiceHamione · 15/06/2012 00:12

Yabu.

One of my children regularly gets nits from her best friend, They probably now take turns in infecting each other. I have been de nitting or checking my child every day for years now! However I also know that her best friend has awful attendance as her mother sometimes just can't be bothered taking her to school . Just as she cannot be bothered de hitting her. So giving her extra time off will only add to this girl's already significant disadvantages in life. Particularly as getting rid of nits does not happen in 24 hours.

tryingtoleave · 15/06/2012 00:23

I cant believe how many people think its normal for dcs to have nits for years. If I was in that situation because the school didn't insist on treatment then I would be strenuously trying to change the school's policy or looking for a different school. I'm in Australia (which I always thought had a worse nits problem than Europe, because it didn't get cold) but we have only had one infestation. When I realized, I treated, told the childcare, who then checked everyone in the class and had a quiet word with the parents of the children who had nits. Everyone must have treated their children because the problem didn't come back. Then a few weeks ago we had an email from ds's school saying there were cases of lice. I had a quick look in ds's hair - nothing. It was followed by another email saying the same - I did another quick check. Then an email came saying that on a certain day all the children would be checked and anyone found with live lice would be sent home. Believe me, I did a thorough comb through of his hair with a nit comb before that check (still nothing, btw). that is the only way to deal with it.