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AIBU?

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Original poster

to ask the school to send out headlice letters within the first week of school

51 replies

misdee · 07/09/2008 19:16

last week, ihappily sent the dd's to school nit free. i have been de-lousing them over the holidays with the nitty gritty comb, and on their last check two nights before school they were totally nit/lice free. no eggs, no lice. fab ithought, job done.

just done routine sunday night comb through with nitty gritty and have removed adult lice and eggs on both school aged dd's.

i am as i just feel luike we are fighting a losing battle.

OP posts:
seeker · 07/09/2008 23:26

When I'm world dictator I will do many useful things , but one of the most useful will be compulsory nit combing. Everyone will be obliged to nit comb themselves and their children on the 1st, 3rd and 7th of every month. Failure to do so will be punishable by death. No appeal, just death.

In the meantime I will continue my attempt to make our school a bug free zone by getting the PTA to fund bug-busting kits and sending out reminder letters 6n the 1st,3rd and 7th.

nooka · 07/09/2008 23:41

Our school has a hair back policy. I understand that there is no particular evidence it makes much difference. Teachers are allowed to tell parents that their children have lice. They are not allowed to tell other children or parents. They are not allowed to refuse to accept children on the basis of headlice. Children who are obviously unwashed and uncared for is one of the alert signs for neglect however, and these children especially need to be at school as part of the safety nets in their lives.

Until children stop playing so physically close to each other (thus enabling lice to walk from one head to another) it is unlikely that lice will be eradicated.

Helpful things for schools to do are parent education, and support (kits etc) for those who are struggling. But it's less likely that families that are struggling (actually evn just for busy, unobservant families) will attend education sessions or undertake weekly grooming sessions.

I'm afraid lice are just one of those irritating things associated with primary school.

gagarin · 07/09/2008 23:51

This is the official stuff the schools follow -

www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1195733839543?p=1192454969657

seeker · 07/09/2008 23:59

Well, if they follow that guidance there is nothing to say they can't tell individual parents that their child has lice. Where on earth did this myth that school are not allowed to tell parents come from?

misi · 08/09/2008 00:13

seeker, probably from the court case of a traveller family who took a school to court for discrimination after they were told their kids had head lice, the action was bought under the human rights articles incorporated into out law and the travellers won and got compo as their childs rights had been infringed so the law said

eidsvold · 08/09/2008 00:48

Misdee - I spray dd1's hair with this stuff every morning as well as her hat and so far despite lots of nit letters home - no nits.

here

sunnydelight · 08/09/2008 03:42

The theory at our school is that kids with nits will be sent home and are expected to stay home until treated. None of that human right stuff around here

pigleto · 08/09/2008 04:03

dd has caught nits after going to preschool for five mornings. I hate them, the wriggly little sods. Itchy now just thinking about them.

seeker · 08/09/2008 05:46

Have you got a link to the case, Misi?

Buda · 08/09/2008 06:36

Well as a parent who was phoned to say that her child had nits and could I take him home and deal with it I certainly didn't have a problem with being told! (We are in Budapest and have a school nurse who checks the children regularly.)

The nurse said he was only asking me (and 2 other parents) to take the children home as it was a holiday weekend and we had plenty of time to deal with the issue. We did. Had to take DS back to the nurse to be checked before he could go back - and while doing that met the 2 other Mums - Mums of girls in DS's class and although he didn't really play with either their coat pegs were either side of his.

seeker · 08/09/2008 09:40

Thing is, Buda, if three children in your ds's class had a bad enough infestation to be easily spotted then I would be AMAZED if half the rest of the class didn't have them too. Unless the nurse atually combs their hair she can't be sure that a child is nit free. And you can't really send half the class home!

Buda · 08/09/2008 09:51

I see what you are saying seeker but certainly DS hasn't had them since. I know one of the girls has had them a few times - her Mum says that she seems particularly prone to them.

All I know is that the children are regularly checked and a letter goes out.

seeker · 08/09/2008 10:06

Interesting. I have a lice prone child - somebody told me that some people have a very slightly higher normal body temperature than others and those are the ones lice, midges, mosquitoes and other nasties head for.

Another issue is how classes are arranged apparently. Children sitting in formal rows are less likely to swap nits than the informal heads together round the table style of most early years education in this country.

ataraxis · 08/09/2008 10:08

Aaagh - had the same issue. Clean DS head on Thursday am (no eggs, nothing) - this am 30ish adult lice!!
Spoke to his teacher this morning who said thanks for letting her know and they would send a note out.
On the nursery issue - my DS2s nursery has mentioned it to me discreetly when they have noticed him scratching - so it's obviously not a blanket policy.
Bring back the nit nurse!

Surfermum · 08/09/2008 10:16

The temperature thing makes sense, I picked them up loads from dsd when I was pregnant, but normally only get a couple if she is really badly infested.

jojostar · 08/09/2008 10:20

Nits are a royal pain in the arse esp when your daughter has lovely thick long golden blonde hair and it takes hrs to get them out only for her to have them a wk later because it hasnt been brought to the attention of the parents. I told the teacher that my daughter had caught them again and could they please send a letter out. If all parents treated their child at the same time surely they would go.. It would save un-necessary upset for the child and alot of time for the parent getting them out.....
I have also heard I didn't know my dd/ds had them.. How can you not know your child has nits sorry I just think there is a lot of lazy mothers who can't be bothered to spend the time to get them out cos they have other things to do/its bedtime too late/i work all day/i cant afford it blah blah..
I've had my daughter clean the whole six wks and if she comes home with them again I'm gonna arm myself with a nit comb and go to the school myself haha

KVC · 08/09/2008 10:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

seeker · 08/09/2008 10:26

It is perfectly possible not to know your child has nits - 50% of children don't itch and anyway you've usually had them for two months or so before you start itching. Not just lazy parents!

VictorianSqualor · 08/09/2008 10:39

Two months seeker?
Wow.

I'd have thought that most parents would notice nits when drying their children's hair, or maybe that's just me as DD's hair is very light.

I do know of people that just don't bother to delouse their children though.

I used to babysit for a woman who had four Dcs. One morning she went to work, and I had the children, she hadn't done their hair so I started to do it and realised they were crawling, I couldn't get hold of her so I kept them off school (the eldest two, the youngest two were not yet at school) and spent the whole day combing through their hair picking nits out.

When she came home I explained what had happened and she said she had got fed up of treating them and no longer bothered because they just got them again a couple of weeks later

jojostar · 08/09/2008 10:49

I'm surprised at that too.... 2 months my dsd's are both dark and my daughter is blonde and I noticed they had their from washing their hair on weds to washing it on sunday Ok there was only about 2 fat big lices but there was plenty off eggs which everything was stopped for and the nit comb was out.. I'm not saying ALL parents are lazy and I get that its sunday night your knackard and you just want to put your feet up cos its early-to-bed-to-catch-up-on-sleep-you've-missed-night But I personaaly would not leave it til tomorrow. i also think that once your child has had them you sign up for the nit police and are constantly looking for early signs so it doesnt take hrs..

nooka · 08/09/2008 17:00

I don't brush my son's hair (he does it himself or not at all, it's short and curly and brushing doesn't make it look much different). The time he did have lice they were very difficult to see, and getting the nits out was incredibly difficult as he has very fine hair (can't use NittyGritty because he screams to much, and he is very stoic child). dd has dark blond hair and you really couldn't see the lice at all.

2beornot2be · 08/09/2008 17:13

OIL up ur kids hair espeically girls, Plaits with loads of olive oil spray (for hair) that is it keeps the nits away

AphroditeInHerNightie · 08/09/2008 17:36

Ok - anyone else scratching their heads while reading this discussion?

Original poster
misdee · 08/09/2008 17:51

my girls hair is always tied back. it was cut shorter in the holidays as well.

am looking at those sprays. some people swear by them, but others day they dont work at all.

am wondering if i should print out the nitty gritty comb information and give it to the school, as it has been brilliant.

OP posts:
debzmb62 · 08/09/2008 17:55

i am lol