Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wonder why schools pussy foot around nits??

92 replies

CatEyeFlick · 01/10/2015 15:58

yet again had a general letter today about how a child in my dc class "may" have headlice and can everyone please check their own child?

obviously I will be checking all mine after their bath tonight but I do check them weekly anyway after they kept getting them before the holidays

but what I don't get it why don't the teachers take the parent aside of the child with nits and discreetly let them know? as clearly there are loads of shit parents who just cba / dont care / wont even READ the letter

if a child was ill at school the parents are told. why are nits different? they are a health issue. is it because they are "embarrassing" ? personally I would rather be told if mine had them, so why the coyness??

actually I think they should go a step further and send any children with nits home but at the very least tell the parents

OP posts:
Original poster
CatEyeFlick · 01/10/2015 15:59

of the child with nits so they can sort it.

(sorry posted too soon)

OP posts:
HumphreyCobblers · 01/10/2015 16:02

IME they do mention it directly, I certainly did. The problem was that the parent in question would act horrified, state "they had only checked them at the weekend" and then fail to take any action. Or they would treat once and that would be it. So the problem would continue.

BrandNewAndImproved · 01/10/2015 16:02

The amount of texts and letters we have about asking to check our dc as someone in the class has it is a joke.

My dc have never had nits. Stop texting my phone and text the parents of the children who actually have nits telling them your dc has nits please sort it out or they will be sent home.

MrsTerryPratchett · 01/10/2015 16:03

I actually agree with you. However, I also think that combs, treatments and the like should be free. Because nit treatment is very expensive and some people just find it very hard. Spray all the kids with tea tree on the way in, a bit too much...

whatsagoodusername · 01/10/2015 16:05

I always assumed that they did tell the parents directly and then sent out the letters so that everyone was aware without naming and shaming.

KathyBeale · 01/10/2015 16:05

Isn't it the other way round? My kids had nits recently so I emailed the school and told them and then they emailed all the parents in the class (including me) to say 'someone has nits... Blah blah.'

BarbarianMum · 01/10/2015 16:05

Nit combs are about a tenner and last years. That plus cheap conditioner will get rid of nits, if you are prepared to invest the time.

YouHadMeAtMeatTornado · 01/10/2015 16:06

My dc both had nits and I had them too . Discovered the little bastards on a Friday evening, treated over the weekend and then told the teachers on the Monday. Item in newsletter that Friday. I just take the letters as a heads up so you can have a more comprehensive check than Jesus.

YouHadMeAtMeatTornado · 01/10/2015 16:07

Sigh

Usual

Jesus was not involved.

MrsTerryPratchett · 01/10/2015 16:07

I know Barbarian but that's not how the vast majority of people deal with nits. Do they also send home a sheet on how to nit comb...

Hotpatootietimewarp · 01/10/2015 16:07

Yes I agree it's a total PITA, luckily DD hasn't had them yet but I check weekly. There was actually one salt of the earth type of mum who actually said she wouldn't be getting rid of them as they were In their natural habitat ShockConfused. I use tea tree spray on DD after her hair has been washed

YouHadMeAtMeatTornado · 01/10/2015 16:07

Although I might have used his name in vain a few times while combing three heads worth of long hair.

MrsTerryPratchett · 01/10/2015 16:08

The Parting of the Hair, Meat

CrohnicallyAspie · 01/10/2015 16:08

I work in a school, if we know which child it is (as in, we have seen live lice ourselves) we do inform the parents that their child has them. If it is a persistent problem we have even sought permission to treat at school. Sometimes we have parents take us to one side and say that their child had lice and has been treated, but they think they caught it from school.

The letters are just supposed to be a warning for the rest of the parents, in case your child has caught them from the original 'offender'. If school haven't had a dirct word with you then chances are it's not your child that is spreading them. But your child may have picked up a louse or two from their classmate, and it only takes one pregnant louse to infest your child!

Hotpatootietimewarp · 01/10/2015 16:08

Oh and if you can get one of the nits on an envelope and take it to the pharmacy the treatment is free I believe

Spidertracker · 01/10/2015 16:08

I think schools are generally good at notifying about nits, if they did the same thing re threadworms we could greatly reduce the prevalence of those too.

YouHadMeAtMeatTornado · 01/10/2015 16:09

Combing of the five thousand.

CrohnicallyAspie · 01/10/2015 16:09

Mrs TP our nit letters do have advice on how to condition/comb to get rid of nits.

MrsTerryPratchett · 01/10/2015 16:10

Ours don't. Canada.

Original poster
CatEyeFlick · 01/10/2015 16:11

well I am assuming the parents aren't told at my school, perhaps they are at others....I have never been told -and have had dc in the school for the last 6 years and they sure as hell have had them--

and lol at youhadme and being more comprehensive at nit checking than jesus :D

OP posts:
Chattymummyhere · 01/10/2015 16:11

We had no letters at all since September till the new reception pupils started so it already triggered a lot of playground gossip about where they had come from because most had other older children in the school only leaving a few new family's.

The kids should be sent home and not allowed back until clear like they used to be. Even if that means sending the same pupil home every week.

Pharmacy first means you can get nit creams for free for under 16 year olds. There is no excuse for it not being treated. If the nits seem to be immune go to the doctors for higher strength stuff. I remember being the pupil always catching them as the child sitting next to me parents never cleared her of them leading to my parents getting so frustrated I went from bum length hair to a number 1 clipper cut! Still annoys me to this day...

LaLyra · 01/10/2015 16:11

But surely there's no point in only telling the parents of that child? If Mary comes to school with nits then by the time the day has ended another half dozen kids could have them. That's precisely why there are times where there seems to be a never ending stream of 'there may be someone in the class...' letters because they pass so easily.

I also think parents of P1/nursery children should have to go to a class to learn how to treat nits properly. The amount of people who don't do it right, believe random myths or just don't actually know what they are looking for with the eggs just adds to the problem.

Another reason for the letters is because parents aren't always at pick up, and school reception staff don't have time to phone the parents of every kid in the school with nits every day.

Original poster
CatEyeFlick · 01/10/2015 16:13

yeah ours do chronically

there really is no excuse

and as for "natural habitat" freak woman .... OMG wtf Shock

OP posts:
MrsTerryPratchett · 01/10/2015 16:13

It would also help if EVERY small girl didn't have long hair. It really is like a uniform now.

Notso · 01/10/2015 16:14

When we had the 'starting nursery' meetings for DC4 the teacher said they only send letters home about headlice if several cases are brought to their attention. If there is just one case they don't bother anymore. Hmm