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Original poster

to think it is ridiculous that in todays Britain schools have head lice problem?

172 replies

judyta101 · 15/01/2017 15:20

The head teacher in my DS school regularly sends out letters: 'head lice alert!', 'check your child's hair today for unwanted visitors'. DS who is now 7 got head lice twice in the last six months - first time I had to google it as never seen it before. I was terrified and run fast to the nearest chemist. We moved to the North West over a year ago, but also had the letters in previous school in South Wales.
I have lived in the UK for long time now, but I was born and brought up in Eastern Europe, went to school in the eighties, heard someone had head lice once or twice, it had never spread, never been a problem. Never heard about it at the university or the school I was teaching at.
I asked my SIL (a retired teacher) about it - she laughed it off saying her granddaughters (teenagers now) get it now and again too.
Is it so common and normal that it's just a part of a school life? Am I unlucky to live where it is a problem? Are people not bothered by head lice?

OP posts:
slummamumma · 15/01/2017 17:44

I remember sitting behind a girl in assembly last year (as a parent) and I could see them crawling all over her head between her plaits - that was horrible and I felt so sorry for her

MoreCrackThanHarlem · 15/01/2017 17:45

Why aren't they allowed to tell the parents of the child spreading it?

They are. I have no idea where this idea comes from.

Oblomov16 · 15/01/2017 17:48

To the poster who asked how parents could manage to have so little involvement in their kids grooming? As if they are neglectful or uncaring?

Both my ds's have short hair and wash their own. (Ds2 in primary and has a bath or a shower on his own). So, no, I don't comb their hair. I have to make a point of checking their hair for nits.

Meluzyna · 15/01/2017 17:49

LBOCS2 Sun 15-Jan-17 17:06:20

Because the act of catching headlice is affected by the sort of hair one has?
Yes and no. As Depths says upthread there are people who seem to get them more often than others - it is impossible to know if this is because of hair type (or length) or the fact that they get closer to other infected children.
But there are definitely people who are more likely to get them .
I never had headlice as a child - my Mum kept mine and DSis hair the same length as our brothers': i.e. extremely short - we were often mistaken for boys when dressed in shorts.
As an adult I grew my hair - and caught headlice. The first time was before I had the DC (the joys of being a teacher). I got a rash on my neck and went to the doctor's - it was headlice biting me under my long hair - which although unpleasant at least meant that I had an early warning system in place to know to check the kids.
One of my sons got them: his brother and dad did not.
I still have a nit comb to hand, just in case.

GreenGinger2 · 15/01/2017 17:49

I think it's two things.

When I started teaching I could send kids home,we combed and checked as a whole class and kids used a one shot product.

Now kids don't get sent home so readily,you don't check the class as a whole and they push combing. Products often require 2 goes and they get used to the same product. They also cost a lot.

Yes I know combing works however you need you be thorough,it takes time,can hurt with thick long hair and needs diligence(every day). Parents simply don't have the time or inclination so they do a half arsed job. Yes still they push combing. On a population level it isn't that effective. You can spend 2 weeks combing and have to restart all over again a few days after you stop due to re infection. < been there>

bibbitybobbityyhat · 15/01/2017 17:50

I can't believe there is so much ignorance about the lice being resistant to chemical treatments!

There were no cases of headlice in my schools in the late 60s and 70s that I am aware of.

When my younger siblings got headlice in the 1980s, a swift dose of some chemical shampoo zapped them.

That simply does not work now.

link to a Huffpost article

brasty · 15/01/2017 17:52

But there were neglectful parents when I was a kid and we didn't have issues with nits, so why now?

BratFarrarsPony · 15/01/2017 17:54

because the lice are immune to the treatment I suppose...

oblada · 15/01/2017 17:55

Sending kids home for lice would be ludicrous! Imagine losing a week or more of work (and therefore of salary!)for something like lice!! It's hard enough combining work and childcare without adding harmless things like lice into the mix. It's a bit of a pain but easily dealt with rly!

KathyBeale · 15/01/2017 17:56

I blame all the long hair! At my sons' school all the girls have super-long hair and it's hardly ever tied back so it trails about. (Some of the little girls in my younger son's swimming lessons don't even have their hair tied back in the pool which means it flops over their face every time they start swimming.)

I went to a fairly lax primary school that didn't really have a uniform and was in a pretty rough area. But we all tied our hair back and though there were occasional nit outbreaks, I'm sure it wasn't as common as now.

GreenGinger2 · 15/01/2017 17:58

Old products were nasty pesticides,new use suffocation. They still get used to them though ime.

SmellySphinx · 15/01/2017 18:06

It's not about one infested child and all their fault if you have a case of head lice doing the rounds at school. It's not dirty and not about neglect more often than not. The only way to erdicate them is to have everyone at school off for a week to two weeks of daily combing and treatment. Not going to happen. It takes 1 missed head louse or 1 egg and however on top of it you seem to think you are, 1 head louse can restart an infestation. When head lice were doing the rounds in reception last year apparently my little girl was the only one itching - that was the teachers words as I picked her up.

Absolute bollocks of course. Not blaming teachers in any way, just those teachers for having a ploppy attitude!

insancerre · 15/01/2017 18:17

I had headlice as a child in the 70s
I was sent home and excluded from school. I can still feel the shame of it now
I've also had them as an adult, caught from the terribly nice, middle class children I look after in the day nursery I worked in
My children also had them in primary school
I do think the best way to get rid is the wet combing method and tea tree oil
I also think more adults have them and they probably don't realise and are reinfecting treated children

BratFarrarsPony · 15/01/2017 18:19

thats right, once a family has them it is so so easy to miss one or to miss a combing session. Then you just re-infect each other.

Mumzypopz · 15/01/2017 18:54

More people talk about it now than they used to. I remember my mums friend asking mum to look in her child's hair because child was always scratching but the Mum couldn't see any. Her head was full of them. So I think some parents aren't as thorough as others, either in finding them or treating them. Some posters on here have said they didn't like using the chemicals because it made their hair greasy. Well it does, that's how it works!!!

missymayhemsmum · 15/01/2017 18:59

Do you think adopting moslem-style headscarves as part of school uniform would help? Does anyone have any experience of islamic countries and whether nit infestation is less common in schools?

BratFarrarsPony · 15/01/2017 19:03

maybe but it aint gonna happen...
Hair up in fancy do's (for girls) with lots of hairspray is a start.
Another problem is that all the middle class boys have surfer do's.

Merlin40 · 15/01/2017 19:05

Now, even if the staff notice a particular child has lice they can't tell their parents, they can only send out a general notice.
We absoloutely are allowed to tell parents of particular children. In fact, we'd be doing wrong to not contact parents.

At primary all long hair had to be tied up - is this still the case?

CockacidalManiac · 15/01/2017 19:05

We'll probably still have nits in another hundred years.

SaorAlbaGuBrath · 15/01/2017 19:07

I do agree that a shitload of hairspray and tying long hair up properly goes a long way to prevention.

OneWithTheForce · 15/01/2017 19:09

Head lice companies make a fortune out of children constantly having head lice. Just saying.

CockacidalManiac · 15/01/2017 19:10

Head lice companies make a fortune out of children constantly having head lice. Just saying.

Are you implying that Big Pharma are involved in a head lice related conspiracy?

catkind · 15/01/2017 19:11

Also how are the parents having so little involvement in their childs grooming and hair brushing that they aren't noticing them?
Mine have never got so infested that they jumped out at you on normal combing. You had to really go looking for them with a nit comb and conditioner. I'd say my DC's hair was relatively easy at the time - straight and short - though maybe they're more obvious in blond hair??

OneWithTheForce · 15/01/2017 19:12

Are you implying that Big Pharma are involved in a head lice related conspiracy?

Yes.

Would also like to correct my previous post. I meant "head lice treatment companies. Not head lice companies. I'm not sure how head lice companies make their money Wink

user1471545174 · 15/01/2017 19:13

Never had them as a child and only knew one person who did. I never got close enough to see her head and don't have kids so have never even seen one!

YANBU, OP.

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