Parents are pissed off about new less restrictive head lice policies in effect at many schools. The new policy allows children with live lice bugs in their hair to return to class for the remainder of the day. They figure that by the time a child is diagnosed with lice they've already had it for a few weeks so what difference is a couple more hours of exposure really going to mean to the rest of the kids in the class? They are probably all crawling with lice anyways. My head is itching just thinking about it.
Some school nurses are not even bothering to send home the lice exposure letter to parents of classmates because they say it is too humiliating to the child with lice. Look, I understand not wanting to shame the kid with lice, as the kid I would appreciate that, but seriously, now we're employing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy of lice?
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I want to know if my girls have been exposed so I can treat it not pass it around like a bad cold until we've all had it twice. Both of my daughters have beautiful long, blond hair. One of my fears is contracting lice. Seriously, I have nightmares about it. The thought of trying to treat all that long, blond hair is overwhelming. Since they started preschool, they've been taught that they don't try on other kids clothes, hats, share brushes or even rub heads together and it's a rarity that they get to wear their hair down to school. When my youngest was about 3, a friend tried to put a tiara on her head and she promptly screamed, "NO, I don't want your lice!" At least she was listening, even if she has no filter.
I hear about friends getting the dreaded lice exposure letter almost constantly online and, even though they are completely skeeved out, I know they are grateful for the letter because it arms them with treatment, which by the way has become big business with entire salons designed to rid people if lice. What is this the dark ages? Where the hell is all this lice coming from? What's next, scurvy? And why does it cost $50 to $100 per person to have it removed? It's supply meeting demand and as long as we keep passing it back and forth, these places can continue their extortion. Is there a sister service in which people in hazmat suits show up and carry all stuffies away and wash all of your bedding and clothing? I'd pay for that!
We need to know if our child has been exposed so we can check to see if they have been infected. Lice may not be dangerous, but it surely is disgusting and I don't know about you but I'd prefer not to be walking around with lice in my head to spare some hypothetical kid who hasn't even been named the possibility of embarrassment.
Image via Melissa Hillier/Flickr
