To think schools should take nits more seriously?

[Eurydice84]

Since January I have had to treat DD (and the rest of the family) for head lice several times. We follow all the recommended steps, wash bedding and clothing, and repeat the treatment after one week. The buggers seem to go away but then they're back again. It's likely that they're going around the school, and it only takes one kid to pass them on to the others. I am at my wits' end, it's impossible to coordinate 50 parents to treat at the same time, and the school doesn't allow absences for head lice. They don't seem to care at all, honestly. I have spent so much time and money trying to get rid of the problem, but there is no point if the school doesn't make it a priority as well. 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?

How would the school do it?
Genuinely asking as ultimately its up to parents actually doing what's asked of them.

I wish parents would take them more seriously.

School is only one of the places they tend to spread.

What do you think the school could do that would be effective?

What do you want the school to do?

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?

Subsidised by who? Your kids, your problem.

Schools care. Believe me no staff member wants them! But other than letting parents know what are they supposed to do?

schools don’t have the time or facilities to treat them!

We've been through this. It's awful.

Don't use the expensive stuff thought - conditioner and a good bit comb is more effective (in my experience)

Have nit nurses in schools again. Make kids with nits stay at home until the problem is fixed.

Apart from insisting that long hair is tied back, what do you think schools should do about it? With the best will in the world, it just needs one child in the class who has parents who don’t treat their child & the cycle starts again. It’s not something that schools can combat unless we go back to the old era of the Nit Nurse who came into schools in the sixties and sent home the children with nits. I feel your pain but it’s not something a school can tackle. Also, don’t buy lotions, use conditioner, tea tree oil and a nutty gritty comb and be persistent in your combing.

Oh yes absolutely schools should police and enforce this...it's not like they have anything else to do. And they absolutely could afford to give every child a £10 bottle of treatment 🙄
OP I've been there, it's annoying sure but it's a phase and it will pass. You can also treat by coating the hair in conditioner, put a film on, comb through for an hour washing off the comb in hot water between each pass through.

You do not need special headlice treatment. Cheap conditioner and a 99p nit comb from the pharmacy will do the job.

Oh and use tea tree oil shampoo and conditioner all the time ..nits hate it. Faith in Nature do a good one

We just used a nit comb with conditioner for the 9 days or whatever (long time ago now!), it's more time consuming but cheaper and was effective for us.

What can the school do? My kids have never had them thankfully!

Most effective treatment I found was straightening hair daily. Gets rid of them fast.

Unless every child is checked every day the nit nurse is pretty useless.

if you stop children being able to come to school then your withdrawing education for children and the children with parents who aren’t treating are probably the ones who need to be in school the most.

Because there will be that parent who refuses to believe that her/his child has headlice. This parent will not treat the child and the child then reinfects other pupils.

vosene kids shampoo contains tea tree and seems to have done the job well for DS over the years (although possibly helped by his dislike of other children!)

You need to nit comb with conditioner after the treatment every week. This nips them in the bud. Tea tree oil shampoo works a treat as a deterent.

Chronic understaffing, crumbling buildings, mental health problems in students, parents and staff: but yeah, we’ll find time and money to comb through children’s hair instead of parents dealing with yet another aspect of having children. Think teachers are fed up of parentification. I know I am.

As a teacher who kept getting threadworms from my class... This is a parent problem, not a school problem. Unfortunately many families are just not able to do the required treating and washing and checking for this stuff to actually be dealt with; those are the kids we're just glad have made it to school. I was annoyed when school wouldn't put a letter out about it though.

I have 2 sisters and it was only with the youngest we had nits issues. There was one girl in her class who had nits and had a complicated family situation and I guess nits were low their priority as she didn't appear to ever have any treatments.

We had our hair combed with conditioner in every Sunday with a nit comb for my mum to keep on top of the nits which kept them at the odd nit and not an out break in the house. This worked better than any of the treatments.

I’d rethink her hairstyle. Longer hair that can be tightly plaited and scraped back and sprayed with tea tree nit spray is much better than bobs or fringes. Mine was nit free all primary.
If keeps coming back it might be you haven’t got all eggs so it’s same infestation not new.

This is one thing schools really can't do more about!
It is very much a parent issue.

Schools cannot force a parent to treat their child's hair.
Schools can't treat a child's hair themselves.

We notice. We send out letters to make all parents in the class aware. For known cases we tell the parents involved directly. If it is continued and clearly not being treated we can log it as a cause for concern, and continue to speak to the parent.

Believe me, the teachers don't want them in their class just as much as you don't want them for your child. I carry a hair elastic with me and when I see signs my hair goes up again.

I check my hair every weekend and run a nitty gritty comb through my hair, whilst wet and conditioner is on - just in case.

cheap conditioner , preferably tea tree or lavender . Comb through with a nit comb at least once a week, preferably every fourth day. Also the tea tree leave in conditioner is good for everyday. i really wouldn't bother with Hedrin or anything the nits are resistant anyway .

I do think schools could be more pro active but they just aren't and I don't think thats going to change given budgets and attendance targets.