'Excluded' for nits - is this acceptable?

[weblette]

Posting on behalf of a friend although ds3 has been 'affected' too.

Ds3's yr1 has a problem with nits - or parents not treating...
Goodness knows I know about it, despite combing all of my four every week, he always has a new adult or five on a Sunday night.

Friend was called by school on Thursday am - "she has nits, come and collect her" - told to take her home for the day. Friend had combed dd at the weekend, cleared a few so head was nitless but now had several large adults. Luckily she wasn't working so took dd home, wet combed, applied lotions, head nit-free. However her dd had to stay at home for the day.

Next morning, call from school - we've found a nit in her fringe, come and collect her again. Not withstanding the fact that adults don't just drop out of a child's head and she had no others, was any of this legal?

With 4 dcs I understand completely how utterly frustrating it is to have untreated nits in a year group. I've lost count of the the hours wasted tbh...

However to me it sounds so very dodgy on so many fronts - there is nothing on the school website about sending a child home if they have nits. How can they justify a child losing a day's education on that basis?

Friend is fuming and wants to know how best to approach the school about this. Please don't say 'check for nits more regularly', we all do atm...

[harryhausen]

Thanks Fright. Yes, I tried the tea tree repellent before but she still got them. Maybe I gave up too soon. I'll give it another whirl.

[QuintessentialShadows]

Yes, it is the t gel anti dandruff one. But he uses a prescription ointment on the scalp in between, which also works really well for him.

[MidniteScribbler]

We all have very fine hair (like a previous poster, it's so fine, it can't even hold a hair clip) so I wonder if that has something to do with it? I'm also O- so maybe my blood tastes yucky to them?!

I've got incredibly thick hair and never had them as a child, nor as an adult, even working in a primary school.

[harryhausen]

Thanks Quint. Yes, we use that one plus some very messy prescription stuff too - cocoasis (?). It's horrible stuff.
The only thing that seemed to help dd was uv therapy that she had when she was 6. She was 80% covered with guttate psoriasis all over. The uv really helped and is still in check now. The side effect was her scalp cleared too - although this has crept back. Compared to life before, it's manageable although I'm always up for finding a her 'magic' scalp treatment. I don't think we've found it yet.

Anyway, sorry to derail

[iseenodust]

I'm in favour of schools sending children with nits home and think governors should have a clear policy because it is a public health issue.

DS got them once and I bought Nyda from the pharmacy which got adults and eggs in one go. Good stuff.

[DeWe]

I agree with sending them home too, if nothing else it gives you a chance to sort the nits out.

I think sending them home is also probably considerably less embarrassing for the child (teacher would probably tell the class they were ill) than another child spotting (as happened in my class at schoo) and proclaiming at the top of their voice "eugh! You've got nits!!!"

I never had nits as a child, and my dc have had it surprisingly little (dd1 2x-once after a summer holiday camp, dd2 1x ds never) considering how rife it is round here. Dd1 and me have thick hair, dd2 has thin hair and we're all O+. So probably luck rather than bloodgroup or type of hair.
Dd1 reacts badly to the bites so we can tell on her very quickly.

[QuintessentialShadows]

My dad sits out in the sun at any opportunity, as the sun helps his skin. He would never put sun lotion on as he said that the suns rays might be harmful to some, but for him it was rays of health!
My cousin is trying to campaign with health authorities (in the far north of Norway) to get free holidays in the Mediterranean for eczema and psoriasis sufferers because her skin always clears up if she goes on a sun and sea holiday. I have full sympathy for skin problems.

[QuintessentialShadows]

too many grins there.

[harryhausen]

I'd be up for a medicinal holiday Quint

My Derm nurse says its a fine line to tread for us. She says my dd needs strong sun for short bursts but as she's had some serious uv treatment at such a young age it's important not to let her burn. I'm on tenterhooks in the sun

[unlucky83]

harry -your pure DD!
My DD1 has either psoriasis or seborrheica dermatitis - looks more like the second but DP seems to have the first - so GP wasn't certain...both DP and DD1 have flares...
There are different main ingredients in the shampoos eg Head & shoulders is zinc (can get stronger prescription stuff too), then coal tar is one (DD1 has at moment - Capasal- it stinks...) DP uses a Neutrogena (prescription) one but was using Tgel before...
It might just be in my head (ie a flare followed by recovery unrelated to the shampoo) -but I've think that changing them helps - at the moment DD uses Capasal, then an over the counter head and shoulder type - and a nice smelling conditioner and her scalp is much better...but a year or so ago the neutrogena one seemed to work best...

[unlucky83]

Or even POOR DD (autocorrect - grr)

[Sneezy86]

At my school if we see a live one on a head parents get a call asking them to collect the child and not return until they are gone. Seems pretty standard to me. The rest of the year group then get nit letters that day to warn them they are around.

[valiumredhead]

Dreaming-my experience US schools is the same, sent home of you have then and not allowed back until school nurse or teacher has checked they are gone!

My friend thought she was combing and conditioning properly but she wasn't and her kids were crawling. I had to show her. Shining a bright light onto the child's head is helpful as you can really see the eggs and lice then.

It's worth pointing out that you need to use a nit comb to comb through not just a bog standard comb.

[lainiekazan]

I believe in the US there are special nit treatment centres (top secret;behind v discreet doors!) which might work here. Getting rid of nits is hard work. My dcs were infested for quite a while. I tried loads of treatments and spent hours combing before finally (I hope!) getting rid of the bastards.

The "Typhoid Mary" in dd's class was a girl with four sisters who all have long flowing hair. Getting rid of nits is a time-consuming, boring and often expensive process so it's understandable that those with a number of dcs can't be bothered to stay on top of it. But - I think the school was right. General e-mails/letters just don't register with some people so sending a child home might be the only way to give a parent a shake up.

[valiumredhead]

Typhoid Mary

[Sidge]

It is illegal for schools to exclude children for headlice/nits.

They are a social problem not public health problem and there is no basis for exclusion. A child should not be denied education due to the lack of action by a parent or another child's parent.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

But it is a health issue for some. Read harry's post. My dd has eczema, I'm dreading an infestation because I have to hope she doesn't react to the treatment. And of course her conditioner is nearly £10 a bottle so wasting it on excessive nit combing is gonna hurt!! I think it's about time it was realised as a health problem.

Especially as the treatment is so expensive and with two kids and a parent on a tight budget it could mean the difference between eating and not eating.

[lainiekazan]

It may be difficult for a few children due to eczema, etc, but only a few . For the majority, treatment is difficult because it is, well, difficult and they just can't be bothered.

When ds had nits some years ago the school said they could not target individual families due to "rights" etc and they could only issue impersonal notifications to the entire class. I actually went in and said it was my "right" not to be forced every few weeks to spend £10 on treatment not to mention hours of my time.

[AnneElliott]

When I had them at primary school, I was locked in the library and not allowed out til my mum collected me! Now you wouldn't get away with that these days.

[IneedAsockamnesty]

Requesting a child is taken home for treatment is not the same as excluding them.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

I just don't know how a parents right to "not treat" overrides every other child's rights in the class. To not be itchy to not be constantly infested with lice and for their families to not spend a fortune on what is effectively pointless treatment because the one or two parents responsible don't treat their kids. It's throwing so much money away.

[Flibbertyjibbet]

We don't use hedrin any more. It only kills the adult lice so you still have all the combing and combing to do to get rid of eggs and the hatchlings that appear 2 days after the hedrin.

My two have never had nits in term time but were infested over the summer holidays! We did the combing with conditioner and only finally got rid of them completely after chucking the crappy plastic combs and getting a nitty gritty every other day for about 10 days. Even when combing, when you think you've got rid of them you need to keep going over and over the head again.

I stand the boys next to the sink with a towel round their necks, put the conditioner on then comb. I rinse the comb after each 'stroke' under the running tap, using an old toothbrush to make sure there is nothing left between the teeth of the comb.

All the lotions and potions in the world won't do you any good if you don't comb and comb for ages and with a really good comb.

[prh47bridge]

Requesting a child is taken home for treatment is not the same as excluding them.

Requesting a child is taken home for treatment is fine. Taking them out of class and sending them home is not. Nits are not a serious health problem so sending a child home is an illegal exclusion.

As my children have picked up nits at school themselves I have a lot of sympathy with those who say infested children should be sent home for treatment. But as the law stands a school cannot legally do this.

[IneedAsockamnesty]

Don't be silly.

A request to take a child home for treatment can be ignored if they then insist, its an exclusion its not a exclusion until such time as they say we will not permit the child to be school property you must remove them.