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AIBU?

To think this is an over reaction to lice and refuse permission?

87 replies

Kungfutea · 03/02/2013 21:32

We've lived in the us since sept (so fairly new) and my dds (kindegarten and 3rd grade) go to school here. It turns out that there are head lice going around. We were told there was going to be a check by the school nurse. I was a bit as we'd never had that in England with the dds and it reminded me of my own school days many moons ago but, ok...

Anyway, we were having a friend of dd1 and her family over for dinner on Friday and the mum calls up saying she will have to cancel as her dd was sent home with lice, as were 3 other kids in dd1s class! I was totally shocked at the idea of anyone canceling because of lice and told her it was fine, if dd1 was going to be infected, it'd have happened by now! They just need to avoid head contact and tie their hair back. So they came over (super apologetic) and it turns out that their dd was immediately isolated after the check (in tears!) and all the chikdren with nits/lice had to be picked up immediately. I was very .

And then it got worse. The other mum said that the only reason they came over was because their dd had been treated by this commercial company that does treatments and they'd paid $300 for the privilege. And then it turns out that it is this very same company which does the checks at the school!!

So wiu to have sent an email to the school telling them that they do not have permission to check my dds for lice? I told them I would be checking at home but that I'm not happy for a commercial company with a clear conflict of interest to do it and neither am I happy with the response (which i think is totally ott)? Being relatively new I don't want to be a trouble maker but this just seems an over reaction and upsetting for children.

OP posts:

Report

nipersvest · 03/02/2013 22:06

there's a scene in the movie 'i don't know how she does it', with sjp, where her daughter is sent home from school with lice and they all go to this place for treatment!

Kungfutea · 03/02/2013 22:09

It's not the company our school used but i see that they do screenings as well. Ah well, not enough you pay through the nose for health insurance, now the life companies have us over a barrel.

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MrsMeeple · 03/02/2013 22:13

If nits are seen with such horror, how will it be for your DD, having to stay in school all day, all the other kids thinking she's "infected", and blamed for any more kids who catch them any time in the coming months...

Kungfutea · 03/02/2013 22:15

But that's the point mrsmeepie, it should be confidential!!! Other kids should not know who has nits/lice. Precisely one of the reasons why I don't want the school checking.

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Kungfutea · 03/02/2013 22:17

When I asked dd1, she knew exactly who the 4 children were and that they were all crying and upset! She went to calm them down because she'd had lice a couple of years ago and told them it was ok (surprised the school let her do that without a hazmat suit!)

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germyrabbit · 03/02/2013 22:19

lol at that website but i can't see any prices on there - it takes literally minutes to get lice out of your child's hair you don't need any chemical at all, just need to know what you are doing. shocked that companies exist just to provide this service, vv lazy!

WorraLiberty · 03/02/2013 22:19

How many misdiagnosis have there been so far?

HildaOgden · 03/02/2013 22:21

This thread made me itchy

Kungfutea · 03/02/2013 22:22

I don't know worra! They don't provide that information [ hmm].

The conflict of interest is there whether it has led to misdiagnoses or not. When I was a civil servant, I had to declare conflicts of interest and not handle cases where there were ones, why is this any different? The conflict of interest is clear to me.

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PacificDogwood · 03/02/2013 22:22

I am a GP and see kids head lice on occasion. Some parents are disproportionately horrified IME. To the point were I feel sorry for the poor child in the room and make the point of talking about how easy I found treating the wee buggers when DS2 had them to try and make them feel less like a leper.... I also like pointing out that headlice seem to prefer clean hair - no idea whether that is true, but sounds nice.

Do people really think we live in a world without creepy crawlies?

WorraLiberty · 03/02/2013 22:23

What's the name of the company?

Kungfutea · 03/02/2013 22:23

I dont think it's laziness germy, but terror! These companies are playing on parents' fears.

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seeker · 03/02/2013 22:25

I love nit combing- I'll do anyone's children for £50 a go.

Kungfutea · 03/02/2013 22:25

I'd rather not say worra, but very along the lines of the company that was linked to upthread. Looks like its a whole industry!

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HerRoyalNotness · 03/02/2013 22:25

Ive heard through a US colleagues wife that they have to keep the kids off school until they're gone as well! Could be 2 weeks off for nits

We're in Canada, they have parent volunteers go in once a week to check the class and a note sent home if they find something. We got a note, hmmmm maybe we saw something but don't treat as it could have been lint... We send DC to school with hair sprayed with lavender oil every day. He has had it on e since sept but had them far more frequently at preschool when we didn't spray him

Kungfutea · 03/02/2013 22:26

You should move here seeker, you could get $100 (and according to dd's friends parents, that is a bargain!).

Pacific, the dad of dd1's friend is a doctor yet he was just as hysterical as the mum! Looks like medical training is of no help here!!

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Kungfutea · 03/02/2013 22:27

That's $100 per hour btw....

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PacificDogwood · 03/02/2013 22:30

I used to live in the States (as a child) and have been a frequent visitor since. I love many aspect of the USofA and many, many people, but as a nation they are just nuts

I am not surprised at the dr dad not being any calmer - lice spread diseased don't'cha know not.

McNewPants2013 · 03/02/2013 22:31

I ashamed to admit this but I don't how to do a proper check on DD hair, I check her hair but don't know what I am locking for.

She has bright blonde hair so please reassure me that I would have seen something.

Kungfutea · 03/02/2013 22:32

You're kind of lulled into a false sense of security that they're the same as you as they speak English of sorts but then things like this hit you and you realize quite how different they are!

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Pixel · 03/02/2013 22:34

Seeker. I'll go into business with you . We'll be rich! and shunned like lepers

NotMoreFootball · 03/02/2013 22:35

I'm in the US and my DS is in Elementry school, he and all his classmates are given regular nit checks by the nurse and anyone found to have any are also sent home immediately (or kept in isolation until home time).
There was an 'outbreak' a few weeks ago and we had to send bin liners in with the kids everyday, every child would have to put their backpack inside the bin bag during school hours so they didn't contaminate the backpack next to it!
All their coats were hung up on their pegs inside individual suitbags, again so they didn't touch their neighbors coats and have lice leaping fom jacket to jacket along the corridor! This went on for a week till the outbreak was declared officially over.

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seeker · 03/02/2013 22:38

Pixel- but secretly we'll be the most popular people in our communities, arriving in our unmarked vans with our anonymous bags of hedrin, nitty gritty combs, DVDs and chocolate buttons!

Seriously- do you think it would work?

tiggytape · 03/02/2013 22:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Pixel · 03/02/2013 22:42

Something vaguely interesting and slightly relevant to this thread...
Ds goes to a special school, he's nearly 13 and has been in a class of autistic children for most of that time since he was 4. He has never had headlice. I always assumed it was because the children don't play together in the same way as NT children and rarely put their heads closely together, therefore the lice can't travel between them. I'd have thought meant they wouldn't be able to jump from coat to coat on separate pegs either, but maybe they can?

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