Fighting Head Lice, and Fighting Over Them
Where do you stand on head lice? (Well, standing on them is an inefficient way to kill them, 'cause they're pretty tiny. And if they're off someone's head, they're gonna die anyway. And if you're standing on someone's head, get off!)
Seriously, where do you stand on the issue of head lice keeping kids out of schools? Are you a hard-line proponent of No Nits policies? Do you think nits should be allowed in school as long as bugs are kept out? Do you think any school limits for lice are an overreaction? The topic on this question in the Parenting Special Needs Forum offers a range of opinions on head lice in school, ranging from "No way!" to "No big deal."
The latest opinion added, from a school nurse, echoes my own. LNchec writes, in part: "Head lice are NOT a public health crisis. ... Parents can be educated and assisted, but children should not be excluded and ostracized. There are no exclusion policies for colds, flu, strep throats, vomiting, or diarrhea and these illnesses are transmissible. Head lice do not transmit disease."
Yet given the results of the forum poll on that topic, with 65 percent backing a strict No Nits policy, I'm guessing there are many more parents out there who agree with forum poster Lilsnobelle, who writes in part: "Do you think your kids want a lice farm in their hair? The new relaxed attitude towards it is a testament to how society is letting itself go down the drain. Comparing lice to a cold is like comparing a roach infested home to a cluttered home. Which would you pick? The nasty one or the uncomfortable one."
Share your own louse-y thoughts in the comments here or on the forum there -- and if you're unlucky enough to be hosting those bad bugs right now, here's some help in dealing with 'em:
Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Well, I know there are problems with our school situation when I read this and think to myself, “Hey, if my boy gets lice, he doesn’t have to go to school?!?”
I guess I have my work cut out for me.
Thank God this is a bullet that we dodged, but there were children in my kids’ classes who had the critters. (Makes me itch just thinking about this.) Ditto friends’ children. Any hint of an infestation? The kid must stay HOME. Period. Shouldn’t be out anywhere in public until completely cleared.
Thanks for contributing this post to this week’s Carnival of Family Life, hosted at A Child Chosen. The Carnival will be live on Monday, February 5, 2008, so I hope you and your readers will stop by and check out all of the fabulous entries included this week!