Parents of school-aged kids, buckle up! It’s that time of year again and letters have been sent home to students all across the globe – yes, lice is on the prowl once again! Some schools have adopted no-nit policy requires students with any signs of lice to be sent home after a routine check up during class. Common-sense, yes…keeping the bugs from spreading onto our littles as much as possible. Some believe that this policy is ridiculous since lice lives on many surfaces so removing a single child wouldn’t do much good to the entire classroom.
Common protocol when dealing with a lice infected student would normally be, routine head check followed by a call home whereby the parents of said students are supposed to treat the issue and send them back to school when they are free from any signs of nits/bugs. This seems to most as the most common practice but for some, a simple shampoo session is followed by early return to school the very next day. Parents are concerned about losing wages, students missing too much school and the possibility that a stigma could surround their child for being singled out once given the prognosis.
What about the students who don’t have lice?
Head Lice in schools, the joy!
I’ve been there, I pray every year that my children don’t get lice and thankfully they haven’t gotten it yet. I pray that the parents of children in my children’s school do not send their children back until their heads are clear of any bugs and I hope that it quite simply never happens in our home. I know that if it were my child who had it I would most likely keep them home until free and clear of any last nits who may survive. The reality though is that I am a stay-at home parent and I can afford to do just that. I can’t imagine the flip side…
Once again, at any given time it lice lives on at least one students body given the easy spread of the problem. Out of an entire school of various children lice can live anywhere really – the very reason it seems to surface yearly in almost every school in the country!
So, what do you think? Should children with lice stay home until nits are all gone or should they be allowed to stay in school with the other children?
