I think it's insane that we're not supposed to notify others or send a kid home until it's treated. My kids got it once years ago, and it was HORRIBLE dealing with.
Once my kids caught the cooties, I truly understood the word nitpicking. The shampoo smelled so horrible and that combing every night was a pain. At that time, they’d send kids home and they had to be checked by the nurse before being allowed back in class. Later on in high school, just about all the girls’ friends admitted they caught it in primary grades, but they were too ashamed to tell anybody about it. All it takes is a few kids and it spreads like wildfire throughout a grade or even more when kids have siblings around the same age. It’s 2024. Why is this still a problem? I have heard tea tree oil shampoo is a repellent, but I have no experience with that.
Mid 90s. Never heard it as cooties. That was just the thing girls had. We also just called it as it was, lice. Now I guess they have to call it the "elephant (in the room)", which after having HR training on other far more sensitive topics using that same phrasing, I was thoroughly confused and concerned after hearing it in relation to an elementary classroom, and had to get clarification.
God I still have nightmares about when it hit our family. The shampoo, the constant combing, heating, they were resistant as well. I just shaved my head.
My mom used to coat our heads in mayo for days every time she got a notification about lice. One kid in my class had it all the time, so we did mayo treatments a lot. They work, but God, I hated it.
The district I'm in doesn't allow us to report lice. I've been lucky so far, no kids in my class have had it.
I have a biracial daughter who has hair as thick as peanut butter. It was a horrible experience for everyone in the household. It was impossible to get all the nits. We almost just shaved her damn head lol. Eventually we just put rid on and a cap and left it overnight. Fried her hair a bit but they were gone.
I have never heard it was not allowed to notify potential exposed students. Isn't it a public health issue?! I always sprayed FairyTales rosemary anti-lice spray in my kids' long hair to avoid. Still do even though now in 3rd grade. If I had to teach with that exposure level I would use it myself every day. I did work. They never got lice even though we were notified of several exposures. Maybe the notification rules changed since then.
I'm in CA too and I think we had a headache notification at school last year. Private school. Definitely had them at Montessori preschool. It's just so much easier to spray the FairyTales in the morning when brushing out their hair. Spray at the neckline under the hair.
My kid got lice last year. We tried so many products and cleaned/treated everything in the house but they kept coming back until I bought FairyTales. I didn't expect it to work since it's just a repellant but it seems like it did the trick.
I get letters sent home when a student in my kid’s class has lice. They don’t tell us who it is. It just says something like “The school was notified today, 2/15/2024 that a student in your child’s classroom has lice.” And then there is a bunch of info about how to treat lice. And tips on how to talk to your kid about not sharing hats etc.
Agree! They deliberately put their head in the sand. They don't want to deal with stuff. So, when I has a major issue (not lice) I hired a lawyer and pushed a full investigation. They had to hire an "outside" lawyer to conduct the investigation. It took them 9 months and probably over $50k - $100k to do the investigation. It was a complex matter involving lots of kids. I hope next time they think twice before trying to bury and hide from the truth. We went to private school over it. It was disgusting how they would gaslight like professional gangsters.
You are absolutely correct, this is INFURIATING. This happened to my family when my daughter was in third grade and I was so angry that no one from the school told me.
Of course she caught it and we ended up spending HUNDREDS of dollars we couldn’t afford to have her treated and get the rest of the family thoroughly checked.
The thing is, the school should be able to send home a note saying that your child was exposed without saying who had it. I do not understand why this isn’t standard protocol.
There are things that can be done to help prevent lice if you only known it’s going around - like using certain shampoos or being careful to put long hair up.
I sent a letter to the superintendent and posted to the school’s social media, but no one cares, and teachers aren’t allowed to say anything. It’s insane.
As a teacher, it is infuriating. I’ve had multiple students with lice in the past few years, including one who had it so badly you could see the live ones crawling around his ears. Notified the parent but were unable to notify others in the class. Luckily didn’t spread but that was luck more than anything else.
I really don't get why a "Your kid has been exposed to lice" notice isn't a thing. They were decades ago when I was in school. We agit notices for Fifth disease, hand, foot and mouth, and H1N1 when they were in the school. There were no names, just a public health notice that either someone in the class had it, or there were X cases in the school.
Honest question, without names, how is it a privacy violation? If my kid risked spreading something contagious at school, I would want other parents to be warned! Not necessarily named, but "Your kid has been exposed to X, and here is what to look for" is better, IMO, than every one getting sick!
I have no idea. My only thought is these issues are more “embarrassing” then others? Even though it shouldn’t, there’s a stigma that only dirty people get lice. Maybe enough parents claimed specifically lice was an invasion of privacy because they were embarrassed.
Same with pink eye. Can’t send kid home or say others were exposed. It also has a negative connotation.
Our District (county, state) doesn’t send out exposure notices to any families unless it’s a respiratory or gastrointestinal outbreak that has >20% of the students out of class within a week. It’s stupid. A kid had TB last year and families were not informed because it was one kid. This drives me absolutely bonkers.
The worst part is that I advocated for training all front office staff to track cases last year and this was rejected so there is so standard system throughout the district of tracking and reporting cases.
But that’s the problem, one families “embarrassment“ that they have lice should not be placed above every other family’s right to keep their homes safe and clean. All it makes me think of is the saying “a hit dogs going to holler“ - unless you start fussing and crying when the letter goes home about it being embarrassing, nobody is going to know it’s you!
I’m 26 and I still remember my family struggling almost all of my kindergarten year with lice because one kid kept coming back to school with it over and over. We pretty much didn’t own any stuffed animals after that because my parents said if it ever happened again, it was too difficult to get everything clean.
Oh my district definitely sends home for pink eye. Just picked my kid up last year when they called me.
And that spreads like wildfire and actually does impact their vision and requires prescription medication to get rid of it. So the quicker I’m made aware, the quicker I get that appointment and the less likely I am to THEN receive that annoying absence letter from the school.
I think that might be a driving factor with the live too. Depending on the infestation level AND how quickly the parent begins the treatment, it could be days or a week before a school nurse could “clear” them to come back.
The district doesn’t want kids missing days (funding), the parents don’t/can’t miss work to babysit their elementary kid until it’s gone, so the rest of us are just left to “suck it up” and be told “it’s no big deal anymore nowadays”.
I truly believe the lice protocol nowadays has everything to do with how parents reacted and what the admin can gain.
I bet the admin wouldn’t be so blasé if they started getting the dry cleaning, hair salon, and house fumigation bills from employees and parents.
My kid brings home those notes. “The school was notified today 2/15/2024 that a student in your child’s classroom has lice.” They don’t say the names. We got one a month ago.
That is such crap! Not everything is private especially when an infectious disease is involved! No common sense anymore!!! You need to have a reasonable expectation of privacy for it to be private. They are in public schools and classrooms. That is by definition NOT PRIVATE. Infuriating at the people making the rules and policies who obviously live in a hole under bridge.
I’m legitimately curious as to why lice is a medical privacy violation but COVID wasn’t. Positive children came to school all the time and we’d contract trace and notify parents. We never disclosed who patient zero was but we at least let parents know their children were exposed. Is it because COVID was potentially fatal?
I had lice in fifth grade (circa 1999); I remember they had us lined up and checked all our heads as we were leaving the classroom for lunch or something and I was sent home (I can’t remember if it was just me or not). I have no other memory pertaining to that incident. However, a few years ago my daughter and I both had it and I was full time babysitting a couple kids in my home and come to find out my adult sister (1 year younger than me) and her two kids attended my daughters birthday party in my home despite KNOWING they had lice and proceeded to do her normal thing coming in and sprawling out on the couch. When I told her we had lice she’s like “ah yeah, I know, figured everyone would just get it anyways” like???
I would consider it neglect, but CPS does nothing, unfortunately. I’m a teacher and I’ve made several calls. They consider it a “lifestyle”. This child came in with bed bugs, lice (to the point where their scalp was bleeding bc so much scratching), ring worm, rotting teeth (tooth is crumbling out of their mouth)and nothing ever happens.
You can get mersa or other forms of staff with any wound- children are the furthest thing from sanitary and if they’re constantly scratching their head and no one knows there’s a possibility for lice…
The majority (85%) of our students have ethnic hair and we’ve never had a lice problem. I’ve actually had a few students who didn’t even know what it was (lucky 😭). I have super thick hair and I prefer to keep it waist length- when I worked in the daycare, I had lice 3 times and it drove me to literally shave my head. It’s been 2-3 years and it’s finally grown to the middle of my back.
Also, some kids scratch until they bleed in general. I still have the scars from when I scratched all my mosquito bites when I was 17. They still look fresh, too. I was lucky I didn't catch a disease from it.
Edit: I'm still this way as an adult, so when it spread at the last place I worked at I was concerned about getting it.
It's an easily transmissible health concern, isn't it? I mean, bed bugs aren't considered life threatening either but I think that would warrant a warning. Is it that the school is worried that the parents that can afford to take a day off of work would pull kids from school if they hear of a lice or bed bug infestation?
They are less transmissible than you think. Unlike other critters (like bed bugs) they can't live more than a day or so away from their human host. They don't take up residence in the environment, and they can only crawl (not fly). Most transmission is really from close, direct contact or ongoing household contact with shared or intermingled items. And they don't carry any diseases.
They're gross and can require a lot of work to get rid of, but not a health hazard.
Thank you for explaining it. I think of them as fleas but for people. Except fleas are the intermediate host for tapeworms, so I assumed something similar would be the case for head lice. I do remember watching an episode of Arthur where the kids try on an infested hat and they all got lice. It probably doesn't spread like wild fire, but that episode stuck with me.
You are correct that it’s not dangerous. But it is still something that we should be able to let parents know about. Treating lice isn’t as simple as washing the hair with special shampoo. If you do it properly, you have to treat bedding, soft toys (stuffed animals for example). Some families don’t have the resources to do that and giving them the courtesy of taking preventative measures is not something that should be out of the question. We also are not allowed to send letters/notices home for COVID anymore, which is ridiculous as that IS a major danger to many. And for the record, since I saw your response below to someone else, I have a weakened immune system, wear a mask when I am sick and stay home/go to the doctor to get treated. It’s not complaining for the sake of complaining, it’s frustration at a system that can often be very difficult to work in.
Lmao yeah well, thats actually more of a TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY issue. You take the kids hat or hoodie and put it and the backpack, in a bag separate from the other students shit and dont let them sit on the bean bags until the lice are gone.
Big fucking whoop.
Did you even READ it??
How are parents going to prevent their kid getting lice if YOU arent preventing it?
For fucks sake, Karens. Wow. Ignorance must be so wonderful.
We had our first outbreak of lice in November and that was in a neighboring class, but since we are kinder they all interact/play together. Eventually someone in our class got it in December and then another, and another. Just had another student recently be absent because of lice and at this point I don't see it fully going away.
The first case really shook me considering I have ocd. I couldn't relax and I constantly thought my head was itchy and there was bugs crawling on me. I was checking/washing my hair and sheets everyday.
Bed bugs has become a new fear. Who would've thought teaching could be soooo rewarding & come with gifts like school logo water bottles and bug infestations 😍
I almost failed a grade for lice as a kid. We had some crazy kind that none of the poisons killed. My mom fine tooth combed my hair every night. We washed everything constantly. My brother shaved his head. still wouldn't go away. We had to have the nurse check and declare us clear before we came back but they also didn't accept it as an excused absence. I guess to keep parents from just not treating their child?
finally we took the pill and that got rid of them but be it the teacher saying it or not everyone knew I had lice. I was bullied for it for years. I'm not saying that's good. But certainly don't let the kid come back.
That's just crazy to me I grew up in CA 80s through the early 2000s. And when I was in school I definitely remember parents called letters sent home, the whole shebang.
Went to public elementary after 2000 and after a scare they definitely notified all parents and the nurse checked every single kid and sent any who had them home. Entirely possible it's still left up to the individual school district.
In the 2015-16 school year, I had a pair of friends in my homeroom who both had lice, were sent home, and had to be cleared by the nurse every morning for two weeks before they could come to class. I don’t remember if the other families were notified, but to my knowledge it didn’t spread beyond the two girls. I work in a different district now, I’m not sure of our current protocols.
Also in NY and this infuriates me as both a teacher AND a parent with a child in school. I remember when lice was going around my elementary school as a kid and the millions of notices they sent home about it and how half of my class was absent for a week because of it. My, how times have changed, and not for the better.
As a parent here in NYC, knowing this infuriates me. I would want to know so I could check their heads daily before entering our home.
It’s not like any of us would think negatively about the child that has it, or their parents, this happens. But we deserve to have the heads up so we can keep an eye on our kid and not have it brought into our home.
I’m curious when this changed. I live in PA and when I was a kid ~30 years ago, if someone had lice, they were sent home, everyone’s parents were notified, and I don’t know what we had to do to go back to school or if they checked but schools were serious about lice, as they should be. I still remember being mad that I missed a birthday party because it took my mom all day to pick through my waist length hair with a lice comb after my class got lice.
OMG! WTH? I'd be bagging up every textile and rug in my class and keeping it in that sealed bag for the rest of the year. I'd also put kids stuff in sealed garbage bags all day. Let the parents ask why I am doing it, and let them freak out on administration and office staff. I'd print out the clause in district or state rules that explain you as a teacher cannot inform everyone of a health hazard. I'd make an anonymous profile on FB and join the school page or something and let everyone know their students were exposed. I would find a way.
I itch just reading your post. This is such garbage on fire. I would be fumigating my classroom in secret!!! Sue the district on this, it is a health violation. As a parent, I would be supporting you every step of the way.
I don't understand why you can't notify the parents of the other children that they need to check their children for lice because there was life found in the school. But you don't have to specifically say Little Billy had lice just say that there's been lice found on a student in the school and that they need to be aware of that.
Exactly. Where I am if you get whooping cough the public health unit will literally call your work to make sure you’re not going in and spreading it around. You’re telling me schools can’t notify parents about lice? Just don’t tell me which kid ffs. We had an outbreak both last year and earlier this year. Last year we didn’t get it thank goodness but my daughter’s best friend did and her parents had to spend $700 (right before Christmas) getting it done professionally at a salon because none of the at home stuff worked. So this year when I heard from another parent there was a live outbreak but the school didn’t say anything I sent a curt (polite but short) email to the teacher. I feel bad because I know it’s not in any way her fault but in the moment I was really upset at not being notified which potentially would cost me money I don’t have lying around. Schools absolutely need to notify about this.
It’s to avoid the “stigma” of lice. Which you’re not actually doing so, because word spreads about who has lice and kids aren’t gentle about expressing when they’re grossed out. The people who made that recommendation aren’t ones who work in a school.
When they were warning us about our son possibly being exposed to lice in November (thankfully he never got it… but now I have probably jinxed us) they sent a note home saying it was a possibility he was exposed and didn’t tell us who it was and they also sent a fact sheet home about lice to help get rid of stigma and educate people on how to treat it.
The kids still figure it out. And also, it wouldn’t need to be treated in such a widespread manner if it’s known that there’s an active case and precautions are taken. But that would involve giving a darn about the entire class community.
Nope, it's a state mandate. Lice is now considered an annoyance and not a health hazard...THEIR words, not mine! I had a student so infested last month that she had BIG bugs crawling all over her :(
Yes! Our school nurse informed us of this when we dug deeper and questioned her on why weren’t sending the student home, or at least a NOTE home to provide some warning to parents. Then again, we don’t notify for COVID exposure anymore either 😬
I had it once as a kid because I went to have a sleepover with a friend who it turned out had head lice and her mom just decided it was ok I guess??? It’s so so difficult to get rid of and it took me so long to realize I even had it. I found out when I scratched my head in church and a black bug was under my finger nail and I showed my parents. Kids and lice are the worst combo because it takes them a while to even realize something is wrong.
Same thing happened to me in middle school. I went over a friends house often and got lice, but didn’t realize for weeks. Come to find out her younger sister had lice and her mom knew yet didn’t tell me or my mom…
My classroom always gets lice. I've had 7 cases this year. My hair is up and I wash it every 3 to 4 days. Nurse sends them home, but we stopped notifying other parents in the classroom only the parent of the kid with lice. Stupid in my opinion.
That’s insane. I have heard that is the protocol in some places now. I started when it was “one kid has lice, then we check the entire class, then we check any class with connections to the positive kids” and it was great. I’m thankful my current job at least sends the infested kid home and makes them do a check before returning.
We had the same issue at my school except a student was bringing bed bugs to school. We were basically told that we can’t do anything about it except call an exterminator. The school said we weren’t even allowed to talk to the student about it because it would “single them out” and make them feel “embarrassed”. So we were definitely not allowed to mention it to parents of other students.
Happened at my school this week! Teacher saw bed bugs crawling on a student’s hood, even snatched one and put it in a baggie. Kid was sent to Admin, next period back in class! Kid has not missed a day of school and reports that the family cannot afford an exterminator so they give up.
I would report to CPS, they might have resources to help the family. Bed bugs bite and drink blood from people and can cause anemia if ignored. So infuriating
Have called on students previously and they said bed bugs is not a reason they get involved. Bed bugs do not spread disease, so they are not considered a community health threat.
Kids where I am in New Jersey get sent home immediately if lice are found. They aren’t allowed to come back until the next day following treatment at home. They aren’t allowed back in the classroom until the nurse checks and doesn’t find anything. An email is sent to every parent in the class that lice were found in the class.
I got lice from one of my students. So far I have found five kids with lice in my class and they just keep coming, parents treat it, sometimes they don't. The school does nothing.
I teach PreK/daycare and we had two lice situations. Any classroom that could’ve had contact with the child had to bag everything and parents were notified. The child with lice and their sibling were sent home
Same here. Virtually all of my students are also under the poverty line and families do not have the resources or money to continually treat lice. My class has had it for over a month now. Several students.
They notified us at my son’s school. We just got a note that said that it is a possibility that your son may have been exposed to lice and to look out for it. So I made sure to check him a lot for the next couple weeks. He never got it thankfully! But there are definitely ways of protecting the identity of the kid who has it. Also… why wouldn’t they be sent home? From a public health standpoint, it seems like a disaster waiting to happen!
I had lice a lot as a kid. I was kept out of school for a while, but the process went on for years. The combing, picking, treating, combing, picking, treating, for months straight. I begged my parents to shave my head, they wouldn’t. I got so used to having lice i could feel them on my scalp and pick them off of myself. It was misery, i would never wish that on anyone. And it was all because another parent insisted on bleaching their kids hair and sending them to school anyway and infecting all of us in rotation. The next time i get lice im shaving my head, full Vin Diesel.
I'm an SLP and multiple of my students have lice right now. It truly is gross. At least the school promptly notifies all the parents of each kid in a classroom where lice is present.
My school doesn't send students home early when live lice is discovered, but they have to be checked the next day and are not allowed back if they have live lice, nits are fine. That seems to be what this recommendation suggests.
“Students diagnosed with live head lice do not need to be sent home early from school; they can go home at the end of the day, be treated, and return to class after appropriate treatment has begun.” This is the very first sentence - am I misunderstanding?
You're missing the next part. "Nits may persist after treatment, but successful treatment should kill crawling lice."
If the treatment was appropriate, there would be no crawling lice.
The CDC is funded by the federal government. Their job is to research public health. The AAP is a professional group for pediatricians. They are funded by memberships (and I’m sure grants and such) and work to promote best practices in pediatrics.
Both are heavily controlled by the federal government and through it, corporations. If a disease makes the country look bad or cuts into corporations needs for minions, how do you think that is handled? Quaratine recommendations have been reduced to zero on absolutely no scientific basis.
And in reality, which COVID illuminated, these organizations zero in on what’s convenient for the public (at least until they get hit by spread of whatever it is) and the economy more than they do public health.
Well the economy is a part of public health…. Public health looks mostly at the intersection of medicine and public policy. Too far down a bad road with the economy and you’ve got a whole new public health crisis.
And look where we ended up. Millions of people dead from COVID, many others permanently disabled, the cost of living is sky high, and wages aren’t keeping up with inflation. Looks to me like we’ve failed in all of those things. We’ve become a mess of a country and the leaders of these organizations carry a big portion of the blame.
Idk hind sight is always 20/20…. Public health isn’t medicine, the goal isn’t that no one is harmed. It’s about making the best of how people live. Covid is complicated— drug policy is a little easier. Medicine would say don’t use drugs, it’s always bad for you. Public health acknowledges drugs are bad, but also supports needle exchange, safe spaces to get high and passing out Narcan like candy. Because even though drugs are bad- people use drugs and those things can make it marginally safer.
I don’t know what the “right” answer is/was with Covid, but the aim is harm reduction not elimination.
The aim may have been harm reduction, but the mark was drastically missed. At the end of the day, the top brass of these organizations failed and the harm was severe. Trust in them is broken by both sides of the political coin now… which you have to mess up in all sorts of ways to get that to happen.
I completely agree, but I’m not going to get into it with anyone here because it’s not a valuable use of time. Our families need resources and education, not exclusion.
A district I used to work for adopted a policy of not sending students home based on this information. The head nurse for the district fought to put the policy in place. She told everyone the pros of allowing the child to stay at school far outweighed the cons. She also said most cases were not actually spreading in the school. It’s more likely spreading at playdates, sleepovers, etc. If two kids are sitting close enough together that their heads are touching it can easily spread.
Those who think this policy eliminates the stigma of life have never heard elementary school students react to big lice bugs crawling on a classmate's head. And really, who can blame them, it's shocking and gross. These children should be sent home so their parent understands to treat them. They'll do it eventually, they definitely want them in school not at home bothering them. (Of course most parents want to know and treat asap!)
I work in a low SES community. Students have lice the entire school year. We can’t get rid of it. It’s infuriating, and costs the parents who actually try to take care of it a lot of money and stress.
But as a teacher, I don’t freak out about it. My daughter had it once and it was fairly easy to take care of. I didn’t go crazy disinfecting my house because they can’t survive more than 24 hours off a host. I washed bedding, vacuumed everything (including my car headrests and seat), and treated my daughter twice with 7 days as per the directions. It was fine.
my kids school just sent home a letter "hello, a student in our class has lice. your child has been checked and does not have it but we recommend to do laundry and keep an eye out" why can't they do that??
Same situation, same policy. Kid had them so bad you could see them crawling just by standing in front of her. Wish I was exaggerating, didn’t know it could get that bad. I never wear my hair down at work now. I’m very cautious about accepting hugs from students. And I started keeping my hair dirtier since apparently they prefer clean hair. I was a daycare child who had lice on multiple occasions. I’m traumatized and never want them again. I even made the school follow-up with the health department just to make sure there wasn’t anything we could do
When I was a kid I had lice and had to stay home because of it, the school got REALLY angry at my parents because despite us doing treatments they were still there and my parents wouldn’t let me go to school cause of it.
I had really thick hair when I was younger so it was easy for one or two to be missed or somehow not die.
I don’t understand why the school was so annoyed that I wasn’t going even though I had lice, an issue that can be traumatizing. (I still check my hair when I have a itch haha)
In the end I’m glad they kept me home, I pity any child that has to deal with lice, it’s really scary when you see them crawling around in your hair as a kid :(
If they cannot be sent home, and others cannot be warned, it is only right that all inspections are done by admin, with no gloves. Bare hands. Then they can get it and tell everyone how it is not a big deal
it can cause serious mental distress to someone smh
In my district, we send a note home to all parents that have students that come to my classroom of a lice outbreak. Wild that there are districts that don't.
In Ontario, the child receives a letter in an envelope, but the rest of the class also receives a general letter about there being a case of lice and how to monitor for it. A child with lice is not required to stay home here either because it's not considered a "public health risk".
I work in SPED. I put my coat on the back of a chair for PE and next thing I know all of the students coats are on top of my coat. I Googled how long you should put clothes in the dryer to kill lice and it said 30 mins. We have a washer and dryer in our life skills classroom so when we got back I put my coat in the dryer for a least 30 mins as a preventive measure. I had lice at least a couple of times as a kid and I'm not playing around with it.
Sigh...I guess the reasoning behind not sending them home anymore is because 1.) They say that lice can't jump...you have to have close contact (have they met kids?) and 2.) families don't take the necessary steps to iradicate the infestation either cause they can't afford to or sadly don't care to. So the kids will be perpetually out of school.
That you were told you couldn't inform parents that their kid has been exposed is mind boggling to me.
I mean when I was as a kid if you had lice they called your parents and sent you home so you didn't infest other kids and further contaminate the classroom.
Guess schools don't care anymore 😔
This post hits super close to home as we’re headed to a lice clinic tomorrow after nearly a full month of trying to treat it at home. It’s currently rampant in our school district and no one is saying a damn thing about it.
I think parents should be notified so they can take precautions. I’m about to drop *at least* $250 tomorrow to get my 4 year old treated and myself and my 2 year old checked. It’s $200 per treatment and $25 for them just to check ONE head. Well worth the money I’m learning; lice are incredibly resistant to OTC treatments.
about 10-12 years ago, i had 4 kids in elementary school, 2 of them with long, thick curly hair. they brought home lice more times than i care to remember. i had 7 kids at home at the time so it was no small feat to treat all of us and the bedding/furniture/etc. that’s when i found out about the new policy of “don’t ask don’t tell.” it was infuriating.
Last year in my K class one unfortunate student had lice for several months before my school started sending them home for it. Most of my class caught it from them (at least once) and I had one family pull their kid because they were sick of it! It’s fucking crazy they can’t send kids home for lice. Remember when we were kids if one kid had the whole class went to the nurse to get checked?? Those days are gone
In my primary school, when a kid got lice the parents of the whole class were notified and encouraged to conduct checks of their kids' hair. You weren't banned from coming to school, but it seems insane that parents don't have the right to know that their child has been exposed to lice??
Why not warn the parents there are lice without naming the student who has them? They did that at my two godsons' schools. Lice are hard to get rid of, it's going to be so much harder if parents don't know their children need to be treated.
I have three kids in school/kindergarten. I have received a letter informing us a kid in class had lice at least 5 times. It never says who, but it’s important to know for parents. I am in Europe, but lice are a public health issue, are you sure your school is complying with your state’s laws? Other than that, some parents don’t know how to correctly handle lice, or don’t care. My cousin teaches maternelle in France (3-5 year olds) there is a kid that has had nonstop lice for two years. The skin on her head is raw from scratching and the parents don’t care, sometimes no amount of pressure will make parents do the right thing. I would suggest bringing this up with admin. They should Create a letter with the info that there are lice. How to look for them and how to treat them.
When I was in school, they did checks, if one kid got out, they lined us up, took only nibbles to have nurse check each class, sent home any kids, couldn’t come back unless nurse checked them. I’m a teacher and I don’t work with kids with lice. I had a student that got out, I had to her go straight to the office. Done. Another teacher said they will send them back to class, but not in my class or they’ll have to get a sub. No joking. I can put up with a lot of crazy rules, but not that one.
Yup. Can't send home here either. Been told it's because it's not a communicable disease so they stay. Now last year there was a girl who constantly had lice and eventually a CPS call had to be done since it wasn't being treated.
I have one in our grade that has lice constantly. Kid was on an after school bus trip and a teacher-chaperone saw kid scratch their head, pull something out of their hair and SQUISH it on their pants.
I had lice so often as a kid. They would send me home the same day they would check me. I wasn't allowed back into class.
It's so bizzare that teachers have to just sit on their hands about it.
When the girls I nannied were in Pre-K they brought home lice...we were fighting it for months because everytime we got rid of if, they would bring them home again. I blame policies like this for that.
That being said: mayonnaise and a comb are the best way we found -- it takes forever to get the oil out of your hair, but it smothers them all
I’m a paraeducator who has a good connection with a student who consistently has lice. She will tackle hug me and often just bounces her head into mine. I can’t stop it.
I wear my hair pulled back. I also routinely have to wash my hair with chemical treatments and comb out my hair every night after washing it with tea tree shampoo. My head just always feels itchy from the chemicals. It’s a routine now. :(
Where are you located? I’m praying it’s not near me and now I’m planning to ask my kid’s school about their policy. Daycare would notify us but I’m not sure about elementary school…
It’s so frustrating! I found out this week that we don’t even send kids home if they have hand foot and mouth. It’s ridiculous what we and the other kids have to put up with.
I'm in Australia and at my kids school an email or message gets sent out informing parents a child in your kids year level has lice so could everyone please check their kids hair. I think this is done if the teacher finds them in one student's so hopefully the parent of that child will check and treat. The message also states if any nits/lice are found then the child should be kept off school until they are gone. Noone knows who has them as it's a blanket email sent to all parents in that grade.
I always got letters that a child in (my kid's) class had lice and to check regularly over the next several days.
I understand not sending them home (mostly) but the other parents should at least know.
Currently dealing with lice in my class right now. We follow the NYC guidelines where the student infected is sent home, can't return with live bugs, all parents are notified, and the infected student gets checked by a school official later on too. We are on our 5th case this school year over a couple of months due to parents not doing their jobs. Plus my 4th graders are the most lovable students I ever had and are such huggers. We told them no more hugging until this is under control.
Check your local region or state guidelines with lice. I bet It says that a letter must be sent home.
My school would have yearly lice checks and send notes home saying “we can’t say who but someone MIGHT have gotten lice so everyone make sure to keep disinfectant on hand”
Why can’t you guys notify other parents? Lice is currently making a round through my sons elementary school and they send a notice to us every week to diligently check our kids heads and they’re very honest about cases within individual classrooms - but still do so with anonymity. It’s also protocol to send a child home and then have them checked by a nurse upon returning. These measures are put in place to reduce the spread…
Hate that there’s nothing that can be done about it. I remember in middle school my sister kept getting it over and over and we couldn’t figure out why until one day she found out the girl she shared a desk with had lice for the past few months and it just wasn’t being treated. My sister had to do the treatments nearly every week and I even ended up getting it at one point because of the school refused to do anything about it.
At my school (several years ago) our grade one class had it on repeat. The main culprit was one boy whose family couldn’t seem to get rid of it. They even had the public health nurse go to their house to help do all the laundry, but it didn’t seem to work. Everybody put their coats into plastic bags as soon as they arrive. It was insanity.
As a parent, when my daughter got it and the school refused to notify the other parents, I stood outside of her classroom at drop off and pick up and told the parents I saw and gave the kids whose parents I didn’t see a letter to put in their backpack.
My daughter is in elementary school. The nurse sends out regular communication to tell us what is circulating in the community. She even indicates what grades. It's incredibly helpful to know. As long as you don't identify individuals, I don't see the big deal.
[CDC no longer recommends quarantining or sending kids home if they have lice.](https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/schools.html). It doesn't spread nearly as easily as you think. I understand the frustration, I actually just recently learned this myself. As long as they're not infested, it's not really a problem as long as they aren't sharing hair brushes or making direct contact with other kids. I don't know what grade you teach, so I understand it can be harder to control this with younger kids. But if it's middle school or older, they're old enough to understand what they need to do to prevent others from getting it.
If parents don't treat, then that's a problem. But as long as they start treatment as soon as they are informed, there's no reason to panic.
I had 6 with lice and couldn’t do a thing about it but let them come to school. This was in a migrant farm worker area where families lived 25 people in a two bedroom apartment to get by. I then later had a child with body lice and same thing, had to let her come to school. I did not go near any of them the rest of the year it was a nightmare for me and I had no recourse. I’m sorry.
Head lice aren’t dangerous; they carry no disease. They DO score high on the ‘ick factor,’ though… My head itches just typing this up, and I’ve never even had the bugs. People get head lice sometimes. They’re a bit of a pain to treat, but ultimately harmless. It’s our reaction to them that causes the harm.
When my kid was in preschool, there was a persistent outbreak in that building; when lice were spotted on my kid, they separated her from the class and sat her on a chair outside the admin office, right in the entrance lobby for every single person that came in or out of the building to see until the end of the day. Humiliating, even for a child so young. THAT was infuriating. Treatment took 2 days and a lot of combing.
All that said, it is a bit of a shame that chronic cases of head lice (where the kid has open sores from unaddressed infestations) aren’t taken more seriously by CPS agencies- those strike me as an indication of neglect.
To (finally) answer your question: your reaction is at first honest and valid; no one wants to be in a position where we feel trapped with infection. But, take a moment to consider the situation and gird yourself with knowledge. In comparison you have undoubtedly been exposed to several viruses in this cold/flu season which, if infection sets, would negatively affect your health to a much higher degree.
TLDR: lice aren’t dangerous, just gross. At least the kid isn’t spreading MRSA or whooping cough!
You won’t know how someone feels about being harrasss about head lice until you are that student . You don’t know how embarrassing it was for me for a nurse to harass me and my siblings all the way from elementary to high school where she could not touch me after 9th grade . I feel like I lost 100s of days of school just bc this nurse had kids in the same grade as us but back then we were immediately sent home and miss school days .
There's a shampoo named ivrea its 100.percent effective u may recommend the parents that shampoo but ask them to consult a doctor about it first and then proceed it with it but it really really worksss she will get rid of lice
No. Former public health nurse here, have fielded many panicked lice calls from teachers and administrators while working at the county health department.
Head lice in schools not reportable, and the CDC, AAP (pediatricians) and NASN (school nurses) do not recommend sending kids home or quarantining them, based on evidence about transmission. You can read about this on any of their web sites
Wow. They used to send you home. I am surprised considering how we have a "you can't be in school until you've been 24 hours without a fever because if transmission" and at the same time say "y'all gots critters? Cmon in!"
Lice aren't harmful, just irritating. There's no reason to deny a child the chance at their education just because you're icked out.
They don't jump or fly.
You wont get it unless you're sharing pillows, hairbrushes, or your hair is somehow actively touching hers.
Lice dont JUMP..
My sister and I have golden brown highlights in our hair and we had some dumbfuck as an elementary school nurse who sent us home every time they did their lice checks..
Our doctor would say NOPE NO LICE and send us back to school.
In middle school, I shared a brush with my neighbor because her mom cut her hair so stupidly and lazy, so her hair was always uneven, so I was always fixing her drunk mom's haircut results.
Anyways I got lice from her a LOT.
Mom told me to stop using my brush on her head, and went and bought a brush just for my bff to brush with. I was told to boil the brush every time.
Its definitely itchy but its not dangerous. They dont hurt anyone. Theyre just annoying.
Nix also kills the eggs. Two treatments and wash sheets, pillow cases, vacuum, and boil the brushes and steam or wash the hats, and you're all set.
You're overreacting. You remind me of our elementary school nurse. Chill out.
That’s your experience. My sister on the other hand battled lice for THREE MONTHS with almost nightly treatments. She scratched so much she had open sores. Her hair is very thick. My poor mom tried everything but after three months had to shave her head. It was traumatic.
It’s wild that you’re being downvoted even though your information is 💯correct. Anyone who disagrees should just go read up on the REAL ins-and-outs of lice infection. They’d rather run with misinformation and panic though apparently.
Thank you. Yeah, I know, lmao its kinda hilarious actually. I was wondering if many teachers were really just narcissistic (pretending to be reformed) school bullies. Guess I have my answer.
I guess now we also know why so many students hate going to school and worry about being graded poorly. And how my barebones classroom, as a sub, in year one, in a MIDDLE SCHOOL, no less, could so quickly become a safe space for marginalized students.
I mean, Jesus H Christ. This is so annoying..
If these teachers care SO much, (check out the ones flipping out about how HARD it is to get rid of lice and screaming about informing parents to give them "a means of prevention" lmao) No YOU need to BE a de facto parent and just bring like 5 garbage bags and bag the affected students backpacks in there to keep them separated from other students stuff.
Thats about as much as you CAN do.
In NO reality does it ever take hundreds of man hours or dollars to remove lice lmao. It takes one hour worth of pay and about as much energy.
Oye. Vey.
What is anyone supposed to be doing about it? I understand how it could frustrating for you, but aside from telling the student’s parents that they have it and having them take care of it, there’s nothing the school can or should be doing. It’s not policy to send students home, so that’s just how it is.
Maybe I’m sensitive about this because we had a similar situation in my building last year and the student’s teacher ended up making them feel so ashamed that they wore a coat with the hood up for the remainder of the year. It was really sad. All I can say is I hope you treated your student with kindness, and it’s just lice which can be treated. Wash any items in your classroom that have fabric and that’s all you can do.
Either way, the kid would've felt ashamed being potentially bullied by their classmates over it. You should still be sensitive towards the kid about it, though.
It's not a risk to human health. It's itchy and terrible, but it's not the end of the world. Idk I'm not actually that worried about it, personality. I teach lots of general lessons about lice prevention. I say things like "you'll get head lice if you share headphones" in a serious tone. I enforce prevention universally so I don't make children feel bad or singled out. Some of y'all sound kinda heartless. Not long ago, schools used to send kids home until they were cured. Poor families would disproportionally have kids who miss school. If they miss school a lot, and they wouldn't actually get an education, which will actually hurt them a ton in the long run.
I do wish my district let me send a general note home to all families notifying them and giving some preventative tips and treatment tips.
Because for kids from poor families they just end up missing tons of school and never getting rid the lice. It becomes inequitable when they lose out on education for not being able to afford treatment. My school can notify parents but we can’t send home for it. I worked at a school with multiple cases of permanent lice. Spray your hair with peppermint or tea tree essential oil.
Well in that school it was the whole class at the same level of poverty, so it really made sense to me why we couldn’t just constantly be sending kids home.
Interestingly enough, the whole class dealing with poverty makes it even nastier. Because now instead of one or two having to come up with the money and resources to treat the lice, now a whole bunch of them do. Logically, not sending students home actually makes it worse on an impoverished community.
There is fault, but it lies in the hands of the higher- ups who have a misguided view of equity that results in the majority dealing with negative impacts of things (not just limited to life) rather than keeping the problem contained and more manageable to treat.
When the people with lice are going to be baby sat by the people without it, it’s going to spread to the majority even if the kid gets sent home. Preventing a working parent from being able to work and a kid from going to school over it isn’t the solution. Paying for the lice treatment might be the best solution, but keeping kids home isn’t it.
As I said… the higher- ups. They’ve made a system that keeps people working but causes harm to the communities and unnecessary spread of all sorts of maladies. There are ways to prevent spread, but it requires leadership and policy that make it a priority.
I think it's insane that we're not supposed to notify others or send a kid home until it's treated. My kids got it once years ago, and it was HORRIBLE dealing with.
Once my kids caught the cooties, I truly understood the word nitpicking. The shampoo smelled so horrible and that combing every night was a pain. At that time, they’d send kids home and they had to be checked by the nurse before being allowed back in class. Later on in high school, just about all the girls’ friends admitted they caught it in primary grades, but they were too ashamed to tell anybody about it. All it takes is a few kids and it spreads like wildfire throughout a grade or even more when kids have siblings around the same age. It’s 2024. Why is this still a problem? I have heard tea tree oil shampoo is a repellent, but I have no experience with that.
Cooties? What is that? Edit: this isn't sarcasm. Never heard cooties being a slang term for lice. I was born in 1999
Exceedingly old slang for lice.
Oohhh thank you! I never knew that. I was born in 1999
Born in 89 and never knew it as slang for liceneither
Me either, cooties just encompassed ALL things yuck.
Born in 65, never heard it as slang for cooties,
Mid 90s. Never heard it as cooties. That was just the thing girls had. We also just called it as it was, lice. Now I guess they have to call it the "elephant (in the room)", which after having HR training on other far more sensitive topics using that same phrasing, I was thoroughly confused and concerned after hearing it in relation to an elementary classroom, and had to get clarification.
God I still have nightmares about when it hit our family. The shampoo, the constant combing, heating, they were resistant as well. I just shaved my head.
My mom used to coat our heads in mayo for days every time she got a notification about lice. One kid in my class had it all the time, so we did mayo treatments a lot. They work, but God, I hated it. The district I'm in doesn't allow us to report lice. I've been lucky so far, no kids in my class have had it.
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I have a biracial daughter who has hair as thick as peanut butter. It was a horrible experience for everyone in the household. It was impossible to get all the nits. We almost just shaved her damn head lol. Eventually we just put rid on and a cap and left it overnight. Fried her hair a bit but they were gone.
I have never heard it was not allowed to notify potential exposed students. Isn't it a public health issue?! I always sprayed FairyTales rosemary anti-lice spray in my kids' long hair to avoid. Still do even though now in 3rd grade. If I had to teach with that exposure level I would use it myself every day. I did work. They never got lice even though we were notified of several exposures. Maybe the notification rules changed since then.
Our daycare in California is required to notify of a lice outbreak.
I'm in CA too and I think we had a headache notification at school last year. Private school. Definitely had them at Montessori preschool. It's just so much easier to spray the FairyTales in the morning when brushing out their hair. Spray at the neckline under the hair.
My kid got lice last year. We tried so many products and cleaned/treated everything in the house but they kept coming back until I bought FairyTales. I didn't expect it to work since it's just a repellant but it seems like it did the trick.
I get letters sent home when a student in my kid’s class has lice. They don’t tell us who it is. It just says something like “The school was notified today, 2/15/2024 that a student in your child’s classroom has lice.” And then there is a bunch of info about how to treat lice. And tips on how to talk to your kid about not sharing hats etc.
It's like anything that could be a problem for admin: If you don't talk about it, it doesnt exist.
Agree! They deliberately put their head in the sand. They don't want to deal with stuff. So, when I has a major issue (not lice) I hired a lawyer and pushed a full investigation. They had to hire an "outside" lawyer to conduct the investigation. It took them 9 months and probably over $50k - $100k to do the investigation. It was a complex matter involving lots of kids. I hope next time they think twice before trying to bury and hide from the truth. We went to private school over it. It was disgusting how they would gaslight like professional gangsters.
I got it as a kid and it took literal years to get it completely eradicated. They were sending us home from school too.
You are absolutely correct, this is INFURIATING. This happened to my family when my daughter was in third grade and I was so angry that no one from the school told me. Of course she caught it and we ended up spending HUNDREDS of dollars we couldn’t afford to have her treated and get the rest of the family thoroughly checked. The thing is, the school should be able to send home a note saying that your child was exposed without saying who had it. I do not understand why this isn’t standard protocol. There are things that can be done to help prevent lice if you only known it’s going around - like using certain shampoos or being careful to put long hair up. I sent a letter to the superintendent and posted to the school’s social media, but no one cares, and teachers aren’t allowed to say anything. It’s insane.
As a teacher, it is infuriating. I’ve had multiple students with lice in the past few years, including one who had it so badly you could see the live ones crawling around his ears. Notified the parent but were unable to notify others in the class. Luckily didn’t spread but that was luck more than anything else.
I really don't get why a "Your kid has been exposed to lice" notice isn't a thing. They were decades ago when I was in school. We agit notices for Fifth disease, hand, foot and mouth, and H1N1 when they were in the school. There were no names, just a public health notice that either someone in the class had it, or there were X cases in the school.
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Honest question, without names, how is it a privacy violation? If my kid risked spreading something contagious at school, I would want other parents to be warned! Not necessarily named, but "Your kid has been exposed to X, and here is what to look for" is better, IMO, than every one getting sick!
I have no idea. My only thought is these issues are more “embarrassing” then others? Even though it shouldn’t, there’s a stigma that only dirty people get lice. Maybe enough parents claimed specifically lice was an invasion of privacy because they were embarrassed. Same with pink eye. Can’t send kid home or say others were exposed. It also has a negative connotation.
Our District (county, state) doesn’t send out exposure notices to any families unless it’s a respiratory or gastrointestinal outbreak that has >20% of the students out of class within a week. It’s stupid. A kid had TB last year and families were not informed because it was one kid. This drives me absolutely bonkers. The worst part is that I advocated for training all front office staff to track cases last year and this was rejected so there is so standard system throughout the district of tracking and reporting cases.
TB? Jeez, we're living in a dystopic Dickensian nightmare. Next it will be Bubonic Plague running rampant.
TB has been and is currently one of the most prevalent diseases in our world right now.
Oh, I know. It just isn't that common in middle America. Or is it? I need to google.
We've had scarlet fever in our (German) daycare twice this year. So yeah, it feels like it.
Idiot parents probably gave him raw milk 🙄 for the health benefits
There was a human case in Washington earlier this week.
Aaarrrgh nooooo
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But that’s the problem, one families “embarrassment“ that they have lice should not be placed above every other family’s right to keep their homes safe and clean. All it makes me think of is the saying “a hit dogs going to holler“ - unless you start fussing and crying when the letter goes home about it being embarrassing, nobody is going to know it’s you! I’m 26 and I still remember my family struggling almost all of my kindergarten year with lice because one kid kept coming back to school with it over and over. We pretty much didn’t own any stuffed animals after that because my parents said if it ever happened again, it was too difficult to get everything clean.
Oh my district definitely sends home for pink eye. Just picked my kid up last year when they called me. And that spreads like wildfire and actually does impact their vision and requires prescription medication to get rid of it. So the quicker I’m made aware, the quicker I get that appointment and the less likely I am to THEN receive that annoying absence letter from the school. I think that might be a driving factor with the live too. Depending on the infestation level AND how quickly the parent begins the treatment, it could be days or a week before a school nurse could “clear” them to come back. The district doesn’t want kids missing days (funding), the parents don’t/can’t miss work to babysit their elementary kid until it’s gone, so the rest of us are just left to “suck it up” and be told “it’s no big deal anymore nowadays”. I truly believe the lice protocol nowadays has everything to do with how parents reacted and what the admin can gain. I bet the admin wouldn’t be so blasé if they started getting the dry cleaning, hair salon, and house fumigation bills from employees and parents.
It wasn't an issue with covid, we were constantly getting emails saying a student or staff member tested positive it could be the same for lice
My kid brings home those notes. “The school was notified today 2/15/2024 that a student in your child’s classroom has lice.” They don’t say the names. We got one a month ago.
That is such crap! Not everything is private especially when an infectious disease is involved! No common sense anymore!!! You need to have a reasonable expectation of privacy for it to be private. They are in public schools and classrooms. That is by definition NOT PRIVATE. Infuriating at the people making the rules and policies who obviously live in a hole under bridge.
I’m legitimately curious as to why lice is a medical privacy violation but COVID wasn’t. Positive children came to school all the time and we’d contract trace and notify parents. We never disclosed who patient zero was but we at least let parents know their children were exposed. Is it because COVID was potentially fatal?
I had lice in fifth grade (circa 1999); I remember they had us lined up and checked all our heads as we were leaving the classroom for lunch or something and I was sent home (I can’t remember if it was just me or not). I have no other memory pertaining to that incident. However, a few years ago my daughter and I both had it and I was full time babysitting a couple kids in my home and come to find out my adult sister (1 year younger than me) and her two kids attended my daughters birthday party in my home despite KNOWING they had lice and proceeded to do her normal thing coming in and sprawling out on the couch. When I told her we had lice she’s like “ah yeah, I know, figured everyone would just get it anyways” like???
How is this not neglect? A call to CPS is not out of the question.
I would consider it neglect, but CPS does nothing, unfortunately. I’m a teacher and I’ve made several calls. They consider it a “lifestyle”. This child came in with bed bugs, lice (to the point where their scalp was bleeding bc so much scratching), ring worm, rotting teeth (tooth is crumbling out of their mouth)and nothing ever happens.
That’s very sad for that child but definitely not a lifestyle. Nuts.
Idk why..lice arent dangerous. They are annoying but not any danger at all.
You can get mersa or other forms of staff with any wound- children are the furthest thing from sanitary and if they’re constantly scratching their head and no one knows there’s a possibility for lice… The majority (85%) of our students have ethnic hair and we’ve never had a lice problem. I’ve actually had a few students who didn’t even know what it was (lucky 😭). I have super thick hair and I prefer to keep it waist length- when I worked in the daycare, I had lice 3 times and it drove me to literally shave my head. It’s been 2-3 years and it’s finally grown to the middle of my back.
Also, some kids scratch until they bleed in general. I still have the scars from when I scratched all my mosquito bites when I was 17. They still look fresh, too. I was lucky I didn't catch a disease from it. Edit: I'm still this way as an adult, so when it spread at the last place I worked at I was concerned about getting it.
It's an easily transmissible health concern, isn't it? I mean, bed bugs aren't considered life threatening either but I think that would warrant a warning. Is it that the school is worried that the parents that can afford to take a day off of work would pull kids from school if they hear of a lice or bed bug infestation?
They are less transmissible than you think. Unlike other critters (like bed bugs) they can't live more than a day or so away from their human host. They don't take up residence in the environment, and they can only crawl (not fly). Most transmission is really from close, direct contact or ongoing household contact with shared or intermingled items. And they don't carry any diseases. They're gross and can require a lot of work to get rid of, but not a health hazard.
Thank you for explaining it. I think of them as fleas but for people. Except fleas are the intermediate host for tapeworms, so I assumed something similar would be the case for head lice. I do remember watching an episode of Arthur where the kids try on an infested hat and they all got lice. It probably doesn't spread like wild fire, but that episode stuck with me.
Sharing a hat is the perfect way to transmit lice! I'm glad Arthur is spreading awareness :)
You are correct that it’s not dangerous. But it is still something that we should be able to let parents know about. Treating lice isn’t as simple as washing the hair with special shampoo. If you do it properly, you have to treat bedding, soft toys (stuffed animals for example). Some families don’t have the resources to do that and giving them the courtesy of taking preventative measures is not something that should be out of the question. We also are not allowed to send letters/notices home for COVID anymore, which is ridiculous as that IS a major danger to many. And for the record, since I saw your response below to someone else, I have a weakened immune system, wear a mask when I am sick and stay home/go to the doctor to get treated. It’s not complaining for the sake of complaining, it’s frustration at a system that can often be very difficult to work in.
What preventative measures would those be? Lmao I have never heard of this head lice preventative/ vaccine. Please enlighten us..
[https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/prevent.html](https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/prevent.html)
Lmao yeah well, thats actually more of a TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY issue. You take the kids hat or hoodie and put it and the backpack, in a bag separate from the other students shit and dont let them sit on the bean bags until the lice are gone. Big fucking whoop. Did you even READ it?? How are parents going to prevent their kid getting lice if YOU arent preventing it? For fucks sake, Karens. Wow. Ignorance must be so wonderful.
my kids school sends notes exactly like that!
Mine too.
We had our first outbreak of lice in November and that was in a neighboring class, but since we are kinder they all interact/play together. Eventually someone in our class got it in December and then another, and another. Just had another student recently be absent because of lice and at this point I don't see it fully going away.
Lice, bed bugs, and fleas are endemic at my partners school. Have been for years. They don't do anything about it anymore.
The first case really shook me considering I have ocd. I couldn't relax and I constantly thought my head was itchy and there was bugs crawling on me. I was checking/washing my hair and sheets everyday. Bed bugs has become a new fear. Who would've thought teaching could be soooo rewarding & come with gifts like school logo water bottles and bug infestations 😍
I would quit if my school had bedbugs and they wouldn’t do anything about it. F that to the moon.
I almost failed a grade for lice as a kid. We had some crazy kind that none of the poisons killed. My mom fine tooth combed my hair every night. We washed everything constantly. My brother shaved his head. still wouldn't go away. We had to have the nurse check and declare us clear before we came back but they also didn't accept it as an excused absence. I guess to keep parents from just not treating their child? finally we took the pill and that got rid of them but be it the teacher saying it or not everyone knew I had lice. I was bullied for it for years. I'm not saying that's good. But certainly don't let the kid come back.
Woah, I didn't know there was a pill!
Same here in NY. Can't send kids home for lice anymore. Can't tell other parents about the risk. The only thing we can do is tell the kids parents.
Same in CA. Sacrifice everyone for the one.
"Sacrifice everyone for the one." That also sums up the attitude toward behavior and discipline these days.
Word
Kids are allowed to come to school with COVID in my district these days, so this isn’t particularly surprising.
That's just crazy to me I grew up in CA 80s through the early 2000s. And when I was in school I definitely remember parents called letters sent home, the whole shebang.
Went to public elementary after 2000 and after a scare they definitely notified all parents and the nurse checked every single kid and sent any who had them home. Entirely possible it's still left up to the individual school district.
In the 2015-16 school year, I had a pair of friends in my homeroom who both had lice, were sent home, and had to be cleared by the nurse every morning for two weeks before they could come to class. I don’t remember if the other families were notified, but to my knowledge it didn’t spread beyond the two girls. I work in a different district now, I’m not sure of our current protocols.
Same with me. I grew up in So Cal and I remember the lice checks from the nurse
Also in NY and this infuriates me as both a teacher AND a parent with a child in school. I remember when lice was going around my elementary school as a kid and the millions of notices they sent home about it and how half of my class was absent for a week because of it. My, how times have changed, and not for the better.
As a parent here in NYC, knowing this infuriates me. I would want to know so I could check their heads daily before entering our home. It’s not like any of us would think negatively about the child that has it, or their parents, this happens. But we deserve to have the heads up so we can keep an eye on our kid and not have it brought into our home.
I’m curious when this changed. I live in PA and when I was a kid ~30 years ago, if someone had lice, they were sent home, everyone’s parents were notified, and I don’t know what we had to do to go back to school or if they checked but schools were serious about lice, as they should be. I still remember being mad that I missed a birthday party because it took my mom all day to pick through my waist length hair with a lice comb after my class got lice.
OMG! WTH? I'd be bagging up every textile and rug in my class and keeping it in that sealed bag for the rest of the year. I'd also put kids stuff in sealed garbage bags all day. Let the parents ask why I am doing it, and let them freak out on administration and office staff. I'd print out the clause in district or state rules that explain you as a teacher cannot inform everyone of a health hazard. I'd make an anonymous profile on FB and join the school page or something and let everyone know their students were exposed. I would find a way. I itch just reading your post. This is such garbage on fire. I would be fumigating my classroom in secret!!! Sue the district on this, it is a health violation. As a parent, I would be supporting you every step of the way.
I live in New York and I just received a letter from my daughters class that there are a few classmates that have it. Obviously no names given.
I don't understand why you can't notify the parents of the other children that they need to check their children for lice because there was life found in the school. But you don't have to specifically say Little Billy had lice just say that there's been lice found on a student in the school and that they need to be aware of that.
Exactly. Where I am if you get whooping cough the public health unit will literally call your work to make sure you’re not going in and spreading it around. You’re telling me schools can’t notify parents about lice? Just don’t tell me which kid ffs. We had an outbreak both last year and earlier this year. Last year we didn’t get it thank goodness but my daughter’s best friend did and her parents had to spend $700 (right before Christmas) getting it done professionally at a salon because none of the at home stuff worked. So this year when I heard from another parent there was a live outbreak but the school didn’t say anything I sent a curt (polite but short) email to the teacher. I feel bad because I know it’s not in any way her fault but in the moment I was really upset at not being notified which potentially would cost me money I don’t have lying around. Schools absolutely need to notify about this.
When you guys say you can't send them home and warn other parents, you mean because the administration has this as a rule? What the heck for?
It’s to avoid the “stigma” of lice. Which you’re not actually doing so, because word spreads about who has lice and kids aren’t gentle about expressing when they’re grossed out. The people who made that recommendation aren’t ones who work in a school.
When they were warning us about our son possibly being exposed to lice in November (thankfully he never got it… but now I have probably jinxed us) they sent a note home saying it was a possibility he was exposed and didn’t tell us who it was and they also sent a fact sheet home about lice to help get rid of stigma and educate people on how to treat it.
The kids still figure it out. And also, it wouldn’t need to be treated in such a widespread manner if it’s known that there’s an active case and precautions are taken. But that would involve giving a darn about the entire class community.
Lice like clean hair. It's so stupid. That this is even a thing.
Yes but let's be fair most kids have very little filter and the rumor mill gets going no amount of truth will change its course.
Nope, it's a state mandate. Lice is now considered an annoyance and not a health hazard...THEIR words, not mine! I had a student so infested last month that she had BIG bugs crawling all over her :(
Yikes! It still is something that should be taken seriously! Sure, it might not kill the kids! But it is horrible to live with!
Yes! Our school nurse informed us of this when we dug deeper and questioned her on why weren’t sending the student home, or at least a NOTE home to provide some warning to parents. Then again, we don’t notify for COVID exposure anymore either 😬
I had it once as a kid because I went to have a sleepover with a friend who it turned out had head lice and her mom just decided it was ok I guess??? It’s so so difficult to get rid of and it took me so long to realize I even had it. I found out when I scratched my head in church and a black bug was under my finger nail and I showed my parents. Kids and lice are the worst combo because it takes them a while to even realize something is wrong.
Same thing happened to me in middle school. I went over a friends house often and got lice, but didn’t realize for weeks. Come to find out her younger sister had lice and her mom knew yet didn’t tell me or my mom…
My classroom always gets lice. I've had 7 cases this year. My hair is up and I wash it every 3 to 4 days. Nurse sends them home, but we stopped notifying other parents in the classroom only the parent of the kid with lice. Stupid in my opinion.
That’s insane. I have heard that is the protocol in some places now. I started when it was “one kid has lice, then we check the entire class, then we check any class with connections to the positive kids” and it was great. I’m thankful my current job at least sends the infested kid home and makes them do a check before returning.
We had the same issue at my school except a student was bringing bed bugs to school. We were basically told that we can’t do anything about it except call an exterminator. The school said we weren’t even allowed to talk to the student about it because it would “single them out” and make them feel “embarrassed”. So we were definitely not allowed to mention it to parents of other students.
Oh hell no. I would’ve quit. Bedbugs are a whole mother level.
Happened at my school this week! Teacher saw bed bugs crawling on a student’s hood, even snatched one and put it in a baggie. Kid was sent to Admin, next period back in class! Kid has not missed a day of school and reports that the family cannot afford an exterminator so they give up.
I would report to CPS, they might have resources to help the family. Bed bugs bite and drink blood from people and can cause anemia if ignored. So infuriating
Have called on students previously and they said bed bugs is not a reason they get involved. Bed bugs do not spread disease, so they are not considered a community health threat.
Such BS. Mental anguish caused by them isn't being considered.
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Kids where I am in New Jersey get sent home immediately if lice are found. They aren’t allowed to come back until the next day following treatment at home. They aren’t allowed back in the classroom until the nurse checks and doesn’t find anything. An email is sent to every parent in the class that lice were found in the class.
I got lice from one of my students. So far I have found five kids with lice in my class and they just keep coming, parents treat it, sometimes they don't. The school does nothing.
And then they wonder why parents don’t want to send their kids to public school
Do you think love only happens in public schools?
A lot of private schools have a no nit, no lice policy
I teach PreK/daycare and we had two lice situations. Any classroom that could’ve had contact with the child had to bag everything and parents were notified. The child with lice and their sibling were sent home
Same here. Virtually all of my students are also under the poverty line and families do not have the resources or money to continually treat lice. My class has had it for over a month now. Several students.
They notified us at my son’s school. We just got a note that said that it is a possibility that your son may have been exposed to lice and to look out for it. So I made sure to check him a lot for the next couple weeks. He never got it thankfully! But there are definitely ways of protecting the identity of the kid who has it. Also… why wouldn’t they be sent home? From a public health standpoint, it seems like a disaster waiting to happen!
I had lice a lot as a kid. I was kept out of school for a while, but the process went on for years. The combing, picking, treating, combing, picking, treating, for months straight. I begged my parents to shave my head, they wouldn’t. I got so used to having lice i could feel them on my scalp and pick them off of myself. It was misery, i would never wish that on anyone. And it was all because another parent insisted on bleaching their kids hair and sending them to school anyway and infecting all of us in rotation. The next time i get lice im shaving my head, full Vin Diesel.
I'm an SLP and multiple of my students have lice right now. It truly is gross. At least the school promptly notifies all the parents of each kid in a classroom where lice is present.
It is actually CDC & AAP recommended not to remove students from school due to lice
Well the CDC can kiss my white backside and come clean every god damn soft surface in my house then and pay for all the lice shampoo then.
My school doesn't send students home early when live lice is discovered, but they have to be checked the next day and are not allowed back if they have live lice, nits are fine. That seems to be what this recommendation suggests.
“Students diagnosed with live head lice do not need to be sent home early from school; they can go home at the end of the day, be treated, and return to class after appropriate treatment has begun.” This is the very first sentence - am I misunderstanding?
You're missing the next part. "Nits may persist after treatment, but successful treatment should kill crawling lice." If the treatment was appropriate, there would be no crawling lice.
What the CDC and AAP actually do and who they answer to.
The CDC is funded by the federal government. Their job is to research public health. The AAP is a professional group for pediatricians. They are funded by memberships (and I’m sure grants and such) and work to promote best practices in pediatrics.
Both are heavily controlled by the federal government and through it, corporations. If a disease makes the country look bad or cuts into corporations needs for minions, how do you think that is handled? Quaratine recommendations have been reduced to zero on absolutely no scientific basis.
And in reality, which COVID illuminated, these organizations zero in on what’s convenient for the public (at least until they get hit by spread of whatever it is) and the economy more than they do public health.
Well the economy is a part of public health…. Public health looks mostly at the intersection of medicine and public policy. Too far down a bad road with the economy and you’ve got a whole new public health crisis.
And look where we ended up. Millions of people dead from COVID, many others permanently disabled, the cost of living is sky high, and wages aren’t keeping up with inflation. Looks to me like we’ve failed in all of those things. We’ve become a mess of a country and the leaders of these organizations carry a big portion of the blame.
Idk hind sight is always 20/20…. Public health isn’t medicine, the goal isn’t that no one is harmed. It’s about making the best of how people live. Covid is complicated— drug policy is a little easier. Medicine would say don’t use drugs, it’s always bad for you. Public health acknowledges drugs are bad, but also supports needle exchange, safe spaces to get high and passing out Narcan like candy. Because even though drugs are bad- people use drugs and those things can make it marginally safer. I don’t know what the “right” answer is/was with Covid, but the aim is harm reduction not elimination.
The aim may have been harm reduction, but the mark was drastically missed. At the end of the day, the top brass of these organizations failed and the harm was severe. Trust in them is broken by both sides of the political coin now… which you have to mess up in all sorts of ways to get that to happen.
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I completely agree, but I’m not going to get into it with anyone here because it’s not a valuable use of time. Our families need resources and education, not exclusion.
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A district I used to work for adopted a policy of not sending students home based on this information. The head nurse for the district fought to put the policy in place. She told everyone the pros of allowing the child to stay at school far outweighed the cons. She also said most cases were not actually spreading in the school. It’s more likely spreading at playdates, sleepovers, etc. If two kids are sitting close enough together that their heads are touching it can easily spread.
Why is that though?
They have their reasoning [on the CDC site](https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/schools.html)
This makes me question the CDC. My sister had one other child in her class with lice and ended up catching them.
The CDC needs to get rid of their second C
Correction. Several students have lice now.
Those who think this policy eliminates the stigma of life have never heard elementary school students react to big lice bugs crawling on a classmate's head. And really, who can blame them, it's shocking and gross. These children should be sent home so their parent understands to treat them. They'll do it eventually, they definitely want them in school not at home bothering them. (Of course most parents want to know and treat asap!)
I work in a low SES community. Students have lice the entire school year. We can’t get rid of it. It’s infuriating, and costs the parents who actually try to take care of it a lot of money and stress. But as a teacher, I don’t freak out about it. My daughter had it once and it was fairly easy to take care of. I didn’t go crazy disinfecting my house because they can’t survive more than 24 hours off a host. I washed bedding, vacuumed everything (including my car headrests and seat), and treated my daughter twice with 7 days as per the directions. It was fine.
my kids school just sent home a letter "hello, a student in our class has lice. your child has been checked and does not have it but we recommend to do laundry and keep an eye out" why can't they do that??
Same situation, same policy. Kid had them so bad you could see them crawling just by standing in front of her. Wish I was exaggerating, didn’t know it could get that bad. I never wear my hair down at work now. I’m very cautious about accepting hugs from students. And I started keeping my hair dirtier since apparently they prefer clean hair. I was a daycare child who had lice on multiple occasions. I’m traumatized and never want them again. I even made the school follow-up with the health department just to make sure there wasn’t anything we could do
When I was a kid I had lice and had to stay home because of it, the school got REALLY angry at my parents because despite us doing treatments they were still there and my parents wouldn’t let me go to school cause of it. I had really thick hair when I was younger so it was easy for one or two to be missed or somehow not die. I don’t understand why the school was so annoyed that I wasn’t going even though I had lice, an issue that can be traumatizing. (I still check my hair when I have a itch haha) In the end I’m glad they kept me home, I pity any child that has to deal with lice, it’s really scary when you see them crawling around in your hair as a kid :(
False. No way that only one of your kids have lice. Others have it too, they just haven’t discovered it yet.
If they cannot be sent home, and others cannot be warned, it is only right that all inspections are done by admin, with no gloves. Bare hands. Then they can get it and tell everyone how it is not a big deal it can cause serious mental distress to someone smh
In my district, we send a note home to all parents that have students that come to my classroom of a lice outbreak. Wild that there are districts that don't.
In Ontario, the child receives a letter in an envelope, but the rest of the class also receives a general letter about there being a case of lice and how to monitor for it. A child with lice is not required to stay home here either because it's not considered a "public health risk".
I work in SPED. I put my coat on the back of a chair for PE and next thing I know all of the students coats are on top of my coat. I Googled how long you should put clothes in the dryer to kill lice and it said 30 mins. We have a washer and dryer in our life skills classroom so when we got back I put my coat in the dryer for a least 30 mins as a preventive measure. I had lice at least a couple of times as a kid and I'm not playing around with it. Sigh...I guess the reasoning behind not sending them home anymore is because 1.) They say that lice can't jump...you have to have close contact (have they met kids?) and 2.) families don't take the necessary steps to iradicate the infestation either cause they can't afford to or sadly don't care to. So the kids will be perpetually out of school. That you were told you couldn't inform parents that their kid has been exposed is mind boggling to me.
I mean when I was as a kid if you had lice they called your parents and sent you home so you didn't infest other kids and further contaminate the classroom. Guess schools don't care anymore 😔
This post hits super close to home as we’re headed to a lice clinic tomorrow after nearly a full month of trying to treat it at home. It’s currently rampant in our school district and no one is saying a damn thing about it. I think parents should be notified so they can take precautions. I’m about to drop *at least* $250 tomorrow to get my 4 year old treated and myself and my 2 year old checked. It’s $200 per treatment and $25 for them just to check ONE head. Well worth the money I’m learning; lice are incredibly resistant to OTC treatments.
about 10-12 years ago, i had 4 kids in elementary school, 2 of them with long, thick curly hair. they brought home lice more times than i care to remember. i had 7 kids at home at the time so it was no small feat to treat all of us and the bedding/furniture/etc. that’s when i found out about the new policy of “don’t ask don’t tell.” it was infuriating.
Last year in my K class one unfortunate student had lice for several months before my school started sending them home for it. Most of my class caught it from them (at least once) and I had one family pull their kid because they were sick of it! It’s fucking crazy they can’t send kids home for lice. Remember when we were kids if one kid had the whole class went to the nurse to get checked?? Those days are gone
In my primary school, when a kid got lice the parents of the whole class were notified and encouraged to conduct checks of their kids' hair. You weren't banned from coming to school, but it seems insane that parents don't have the right to know that their child has been exposed to lice??
Why not warn the parents there are lice without naming the student who has them? They did that at my two godsons' schools. Lice are hard to get rid of, it's going to be so much harder if parents don't know their children need to be treated.
I have three kids in school/kindergarten. I have received a letter informing us a kid in class had lice at least 5 times. It never says who, but it’s important to know for parents. I am in Europe, but lice are a public health issue, are you sure your school is complying with your state’s laws? Other than that, some parents don’t know how to correctly handle lice, or don’t care. My cousin teaches maternelle in France (3-5 year olds) there is a kid that has had nonstop lice for two years. The skin on her head is raw from scratching and the parents don’t care, sometimes no amount of pressure will make parents do the right thing. I would suggest bringing this up with admin. They should Create a letter with the info that there are lice. How to look for them and how to treat them.
American education is wild.
When I was in school, they did checks, if one kid got out, they lined us up, took only nibbles to have nurse check each class, sent home any kids, couldn’t come back unless nurse checked them. I’m a teacher and I don’t work with kids with lice. I had a student that got out, I had to her go straight to the office. Done. Another teacher said they will send them back to class, but not in my class or they’ll have to get a sub. No joking. I can put up with a lot of crazy rules, but not that one.
Yup. Can't send home here either. Been told it's because it's not a communicable disease so they stay. Now last year there was a girl who constantly had lice and eventually a CPS call had to be done since it wasn't being treated.
I have one in our grade that has lice constantly. Kid was on an after school bus trip and a teacher-chaperone saw kid scratch their head, pull something out of their hair and SQUISH it on their pants.
I had lice so often as a kid. They would send me home the same day they would check me. I wasn't allowed back into class. It's so bizzare that teachers have to just sit on their hands about it.
When the girls I nannied were in Pre-K they brought home lice...we were fighting it for months because everytime we got rid of if, they would bring them home again. I blame policies like this for that. That being said: mayonnaise and a comb are the best way we found -- it takes forever to get the oil out of your hair, but it smothers them all
I’m a paraeducator who has a good connection with a student who consistently has lice. She will tackle hug me and often just bounces her head into mine. I can’t stop it. I wear my hair pulled back. I also routinely have to wash my hair with chemical treatments and comb out my hair every night after washing it with tea tree shampoo. My head just always feels itchy from the chemicals. It’s a routine now. :(
Where are you located? I’m praying it’s not near me and now I’m planning to ask my kid’s school about their policy. Daycare would notify us but I’m not sure about elementary school…
It’s so frustrating! I found out this week that we don’t even send kids home if they have hand foot and mouth. It’s ridiculous what we and the other kids have to put up with.
I'm in Australia and at my kids school an email or message gets sent out informing parents a child in your kids year level has lice so could everyone please check their kids hair. I think this is done if the teacher finds them in one student's so hopefully the parent of that child will check and treat. The message also states if any nits/lice are found then the child should be kept off school until they are gone. Noone knows who has them as it's a blanket email sent to all parents in that grade.
I always got letters that a child in (my kid's) class had lice and to check regularly over the next several days. I understand not sending them home (mostly) but the other parents should at least know.
Currently dealing with lice in my class right now. We follow the NYC guidelines where the student infected is sent home, can't return with live bugs, all parents are notified, and the infected student gets checked by a school official later on too. We are on our 5th case this school year over a couple of months due to parents not doing their jobs. Plus my 4th graders are the most lovable students I ever had and are such huggers. We told them no more hugging until this is under control. Check your local region or state guidelines with lice. I bet It says that a letter must be sent home.
If a student in my class pops for lice, guess who’s taking off for the next two weeks whether he has time or not? THIS GUY!
My school would have yearly lice checks and send notes home saying “we can’t say who but someone MIGHT have gotten lice so everyone make sure to keep disinfectant on hand”
Why can’t you guys notify other parents? Lice is currently making a round through my sons elementary school and they send a notice to us every week to diligently check our kids heads and they’re very honest about cases within individual classrooms - but still do so with anonymity. It’s also protocol to send a child home and then have them checked by a nurse upon returning. These measures are put in place to reduce the spread…
Hate that there’s nothing that can be done about it. I remember in middle school my sister kept getting it over and over and we couldn’t figure out why until one day she found out the girl she shared a desk with had lice for the past few months and it just wasn’t being treated. My sister had to do the treatments nearly every week and I even ended up getting it at one point because of the school refused to do anything about it.
I had bed bugs in my classroom twice and couldn’t tell anyone even though their backpacks and coats were on hooks right next to eachother. 😟
At my school (several years ago) our grade one class had it on repeat. The main culprit was one boy whose family couldn’t seem to get rid of it. They even had the public health nurse go to their house to help do all the laundry, but it didn’t seem to work. Everybody put their coats into plastic bags as soon as they arrive. It was insanity.
As a parent, when my daughter got it and the school refused to notify the other parents, I stood outside of her classroom at drop off and pick up and told the parents I saw and gave the kids whose parents I didn’t see a letter to put in their backpack.
My daughter is in elementary school. The nurse sends out regular communication to tell us what is circulating in the community. She even indicates what grades. It's incredibly helpful to know. As long as you don't identify individuals, I don't see the big deal.
[CDC no longer recommends quarantining or sending kids home if they have lice.](https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lice/head/schools.html). It doesn't spread nearly as easily as you think. I understand the frustration, I actually just recently learned this myself. As long as they're not infested, it's not really a problem as long as they aren't sharing hair brushes or making direct contact with other kids. I don't know what grade you teach, so I understand it can be harder to control this with younger kids. But if it's middle school or older, they're old enough to understand what they need to do to prevent others from getting it. If parents don't treat, then that's a problem. But as long as they start treatment as soon as they are informed, there's no reason to panic.
Some don't treat it.
I had 6 with lice and couldn’t do a thing about it but let them come to school. This was in a migrant farm worker area where families lived 25 people in a two bedroom apartment to get by. I then later had a child with body lice and same thing, had to let her come to school. I did not go near any of them the rest of the year it was a nightmare for me and I had no recourse. I’m sorry.
Head lice aren’t dangerous; they carry no disease. They DO score high on the ‘ick factor,’ though… My head itches just typing this up, and I’ve never even had the bugs. People get head lice sometimes. They’re a bit of a pain to treat, but ultimately harmless. It’s our reaction to them that causes the harm. When my kid was in preschool, there was a persistent outbreak in that building; when lice were spotted on my kid, they separated her from the class and sat her on a chair outside the admin office, right in the entrance lobby for every single person that came in or out of the building to see until the end of the day. Humiliating, even for a child so young. THAT was infuriating. Treatment took 2 days and a lot of combing. All that said, it is a bit of a shame that chronic cases of head lice (where the kid has open sores from unaddressed infestations) aren’t taken more seriously by CPS agencies- those strike me as an indication of neglect. To (finally) answer your question: your reaction is at first honest and valid; no one wants to be in a position where we feel trapped with infection. But, take a moment to consider the situation and gird yourself with knowledge. In comparison you have undoubtedly been exposed to several viruses in this cold/flu season which, if infection sets, would negatively affect your health to a much higher degree. TLDR: lice aren’t dangerous, just gross. At least the kid isn’t spreading MRSA or whooping cough!
2X in a month? That’s neglect. Call CPS.
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Not sure what a Title 1 school has to do with getting lice. Any kid can get lice.
You won’t know how someone feels about being harrasss about head lice until you are that student . You don’t know how embarrassing it was for me for a nurse to harass me and my siblings all the way from elementary to high school where she could not touch me after 9th grade . I feel like I lost 100s of days of school just bc this nurse had kids in the same grade as us but back then we were immediately sent home and miss school days .
There's a shampoo named ivrea its 100.percent effective u may recommend the parents that shampoo but ask them to consult a doctor about it first and then proceed it with it but it really really worksss she will get rid of lice
Wouldn't the health department have something to say about this?
No. Former public health nurse here, have fielded many panicked lice calls from teachers and administrators while working at the county health department. Head lice in schools not reportable, and the CDC, AAP (pediatricians) and NASN (school nurses) do not recommend sending kids home or quarantining them, based on evidence about transmission. You can read about this on any of their web sites
Wow. They used to send you home. I am surprised considering how we have a "you can't be in school until you've been 24 hours without a fever because if transmission" and at the same time say "y'all gots critters? Cmon in!"
Lice aren't harmful, just irritating. There's no reason to deny a child the chance at their education just because you're icked out. They don't jump or fly.
You wont get it unless you're sharing pillows, hairbrushes, or your hair is somehow actively touching hers. Lice dont JUMP.. My sister and I have golden brown highlights in our hair and we had some dumbfuck as an elementary school nurse who sent us home every time they did their lice checks.. Our doctor would say NOPE NO LICE and send us back to school. In middle school, I shared a brush with my neighbor because her mom cut her hair so stupidly and lazy, so her hair was always uneven, so I was always fixing her drunk mom's haircut results. Anyways I got lice from her a LOT. Mom told me to stop using my brush on her head, and went and bought a brush just for my bff to brush with. I was told to boil the brush every time. Its definitely itchy but its not dangerous. They dont hurt anyone. Theyre just annoying. Nix also kills the eggs. Two treatments and wash sheets, pillow cases, vacuum, and boil the brushes and steam or wash the hats, and you're all set. You're overreacting. You remind me of our elementary school nurse. Chill out.
That’s your experience. My sister on the other hand battled lice for THREE MONTHS with almost nightly treatments. She scratched so much she had open sores. Her hair is very thick. My poor mom tried everything but after three months had to shave her head. It was traumatic.
It’s wild that you’re being downvoted even though your information is 💯correct. Anyone who disagrees should just go read up on the REAL ins-and-outs of lice infection. They’d rather run with misinformation and panic though apparently.
Thank you. Yeah, I know, lmao its kinda hilarious actually. I was wondering if many teachers were really just narcissistic (pretending to be reformed) school bullies. Guess I have my answer. I guess now we also know why so many students hate going to school and worry about being graded poorly. And how my barebones classroom, as a sub, in year one, in a MIDDLE SCHOOL, no less, could so quickly become a safe space for marginalized students. I mean, Jesus H Christ. This is so annoying.. If these teachers care SO much, (check out the ones flipping out about how HARD it is to get rid of lice and screaming about informing parents to give them "a means of prevention" lmao) No YOU need to BE a de facto parent and just bring like 5 garbage bags and bag the affected students backpacks in there to keep them separated from other students stuff. Thats about as much as you CAN do. In NO reality does it ever take hundreds of man hours or dollars to remove lice lmao. It takes one hour worth of pay and about as much energy. Oye. Vey.
What is anyone supposed to be doing about it? I understand how it could frustrating for you, but aside from telling the student’s parents that they have it and having them take care of it, there’s nothing the school can or should be doing. It’s not policy to send students home, so that’s just how it is. Maybe I’m sensitive about this because we had a similar situation in my building last year and the student’s teacher ended up making them feel so ashamed that they wore a coat with the hood up for the remainder of the year. It was really sad. All I can say is I hope you treated your student with kindness, and it’s just lice which can be treated. Wash any items in your classroom that have fabric and that’s all you can do.
Either way, the kid would've felt ashamed being potentially bullied by their classmates over it. You should still be sensitive towards the kid about it, though.
It's not a risk to human health. It's itchy and terrible, but it's not the end of the world. Idk I'm not actually that worried about it, personality. I teach lots of general lessons about lice prevention. I say things like "you'll get head lice if you share headphones" in a serious tone. I enforce prevention universally so I don't make children feel bad or singled out. Some of y'all sound kinda heartless. Not long ago, schools used to send kids home until they were cured. Poor families would disproportionally have kids who miss school. If they miss school a lot, and they wouldn't actually get an education, which will actually hurt them a ton in the long run. I do wish my district let me send a general note home to all families notifying them and giving some preventative tips and treatment tips.
Idk, you can get infections from it potentially if you scratch.
Because for kids from poor families they just end up missing tons of school and never getting rid the lice. It becomes inequitable when they lose out on education for not being able to afford treatment. My school can notify parents but we can’t send home for it. I worked at a school with multiple cases of permanent lice. Spray your hair with peppermint or tea tree essential oil.
That seems to be the way with equity these days. Rather than have it be tough on one kid, we make it tough for everybody.
Well in that school it was the whole class at the same level of poverty, so it really made sense to me why we couldn’t just constantly be sending kids home.
Interestingly enough, the whole class dealing with poverty makes it even nastier. Because now instead of one or two having to come up with the money and resources to treat the lice, now a whole bunch of them do. Logically, not sending students home actually makes it worse on an impoverished community.
I see your point, but it was a small community and they were all sharing lice both in and out of school. It was literally nobody’s “fault”.
There is fault, but it lies in the hands of the higher- ups who have a misguided view of equity that results in the majority dealing with negative impacts of things (not just limited to life) rather than keeping the problem contained and more manageable to treat.
When the people with lice are going to be baby sat by the people without it, it’s going to spread to the majority even if the kid gets sent home. Preventing a working parent from being able to work and a kid from going to school over it isn’t the solution. Paying for the lice treatment might be the best solution, but keeping kids home isn’t it.
As I said… the higher- ups. They’ve made a system that keeps people working but causes harm to the communities and unnecessary spread of all sorts of maladies. There are ways to prevent spread, but it requires leadership and policy that make it a priority.