Parent volunteer lice checks - can I opt out?

[Anonymous]

Who volunteers to do this? I would have to be wearing a hazmat suit to sign up for this duty.

I do not want a lice-nes to hunt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If there's the right to opt out, they should post the names of opted-out children on the school website, so that more public-health minded parents can take proper precautions with their kids.

And yet people are arguing that there is no stigma to having volunteers -- probably people with this attitude -- check every child in the school's hair? Thanks for demonstrating the problem so well.

The people I would want to know to avoid are the ones that want to pass off the responsibility to check their kids' hair regularly to some other poor parent will volunteer to do the job for them. In my experience, they are the ones who's kids have ridiculous cases of undiscovered lice and never seem to be able to do the work necessary to get it under control.

This. Plus, doctors don't do lice checks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only on DCUM would you find defenders of parents doing lice checks on random children who happen share a classroom with their children. School nurse or teacher? If there's a good reason to look that's fine. Maybe these parents could set up shop at playgrounds or children's library space and inspect every stranger first so their precious kids doesn't catch lice

I don't want a random parent in my kid's head for any reason. I would complain to the principal to make it stop immediately as the parents are over the line of acceptable behavior.

I am usually the first person to poke at the self-important among us on DCUM, but I can't even let this one go.

Let your child get checked for lice.

It's not an STD and nobody's reputation will be scarred. It's nasty bugs in your kids hair, right? Why would you not want to make sure she/he has a clean head??

No, the advice should be - check your own kids for lice regularly or hire a specialist to do so (school nurses usually can provide referrals). If cost is a concern ask the school nurse to help. It's good for their school community but it's also good for your sanity because removing an infestation is a pain in the ass. Catching it early is also much easier to resolve.

The schools no longer check for lice. So, your kiddo is at risk and you won't even know.

[Anonymous]

OP is talking about the parent-volunteer school lice committee, and what she doesn't realize is that it is the only effective way to keep lice under control. They don't do it in the middle school, and lice has become a big problem there.

So, yeah OP, I think you to pull your kids out of school and go private, if you can't handle this. Complaining on both the school list serve and DCUMs is a little out of hand.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only on DCUM would you find defenders of parents doing lice checks on random children who happen share a classroom with their children. School nurse or teacher? If there's a good reason to look that's fine. Maybe these parents could set up shop at playgrounds or children's library space and inspect every stranger first so their precious kids doesn't catch lice

I don't want a random parent in my kid's head for any reason. I would complain to the principal to make it stop immediately as the parents are over the line of acceptable behavior.

I am usually the first person to poke at the self-important among us on DCUM, but I can't even let this one go.

Let your child get checked for lice.

It's not an STD and nobody's reputation will be scarred. It's nasty bugs in your kids hair, right? Why would you not want to make sure she/he has a clean head??

No, the advice should be - check your own kids for lice regularly or hire a specialist to do so (school nurses usually can provide referrals). If cost is a concern ask the school nurse to help. It's good for their school community but it's also good for your sanity because removing an infestation is a pain in the ass. Catching it early is also much easier to resolve.

The schools no longer check for lice. So, your kiddo is at risk and you won't even know.

That's nonsense -- they don't check preemptively but a child showing signs of head lice will be sent to the school nurse for inspection. The nurse will determine if it's an active case of lice.

Your kiddo is at risk of catching lice in many settings, not just school.

[Anonymous]

One of my only memories of the sole African American child in my elementary school was during the lice check when the "nurse," who looking back was likely maybe only if we were lucky some sort of trained admin/clerical, made a big deal of how hard it was to do the lice check because the little girl had her hair in pigtails/braids and her hair was "tight on her scalp." I can still remember the nurse squawking loudly "your mommy puts your hair so tight you are going to have headaches" and "how do you not have headaches." We moved soon thereafter and no idea what happened to the little girl, but maybe checking each other's bodies for bugs is a thing that needs some minimal amount of privacy and training. There's nothing shameful about lice, but there is a lot shameful about adults making it a big deal and well...a whole lot of adults are horrible people and we all know kids pick on up and follow bad adult behavior.

[Anonymous]

OMG OP you are insane. You should be glad the school is being proactive and will help YOU avoid getting lice and having to deal with the messy, sometimes expensive, pain in the ass.

Contact the school and tell them you want your child checked privately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG OP you are insane. You should be glad the school is being proactive and will help YOU avoid getting lice and having to deal with the messy, sometimes expensive, pain in the ass.

Contact the school and tell them you want your child checked privately.

Thanks but no thanks. School shouldn't check anyone unless there is a reason to check -- ie other active cases in the classroom or children showing signs of infestation. Nurse's discretion, but that's the criteria the nurse will apply. DCUMers are just batshit crazy over this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One of my only memories of the sole African American child in my elementary school was during the lice check when the "nurse," who looking back was likely maybe only if we were lucky some sort of trained admin/clerical, made a big deal of how hard it was to do the lice check because the little girl had her hair in pigtails/braids and her hair was "tight on her scalp." I can still remember the nurse squawking loudly "your mommy puts your hair so tight you are going to have headaches" and "how do you not have headaches." We moved soon thereafter and no idea what happened to the little girl, but maybe checking each other's bodies for bugs is a thing that needs some minimal amount of privacy and training. There's nothing shameful about lice, but there is a lot shameful about adults making it a big deal and well...a whole lot of adults are horrible people and we all know kids pick on up and follow bad adult behavior.

Well the other glaring error in this whole episode is that North American lice don't like African American hair (their little claw feet have evolved to cling to white hair) - so the little girl didn't need to be checked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of my only memories of the sole African American child in my elementary school was during the lice check when the "nurse," who looking back was likely maybe only if we were lucky some sort of trained admin/clerical, made a big deal of how hard it was to do the lice check because the little girl had her hair in pigtails/braids and her hair was "tight on her scalp." I can still remember the nurse squawking loudly "your mommy puts your hair so tight you are going to have headaches" and "how do you not have headaches." We moved soon thereafter and no idea what happened to the little girl, but maybe checking each other's bodies for bugs is a thing that needs some minimal amount of privacy and training. There's nothing shameful about lice, but there is a lot shameful about adults making it a big deal and well...a whole lot of adults are horrible people and we all know kids pick on up and follow bad adult behavior.

Well the other glaring error in this whole episode is that North American lice don't like African American hair (their little claw feet have evolved to cling to white hair) - so the little girl didn't need to be checked.

Or at least the concern is MUCH less: http://headlicecenter.com/can-black-people-get-lice/

[Anonymous]

Lice has been with humans as long as we have been evolving.

Lice is just another contagious condition. There's no shame in it. Would you be ashamed of a cold or a runny nose?

No matter what we do or say, there will always be less-responsible or less-educated parents in the class who do *not* take responsibility for lice checking their own kids. If the school is willing to help with this, I am all for it. If the price is that my kid gets her hair looked at, that's fine. I am confident my kid doesn't have lice because I proactively comb her once a week, as everyone should be doing.

Yes the lice checks should be done in relative privacy and basic hygiene standards should be maintained such as gloves and a change of the stick or comb or whatever they are using.

Yes doctors do lice checks. I had my pediatrician do them before I knew what I was doing.

Obvs the school should not be touching your kid if you forbid it so yes, you should be able to opt out. The school should have to get permission from the parents.

If it were up to me, parents who opt out should have to get a doctor's note certifying their kid doesn't have lice. Lice is miserable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG OP you are insane. You should be glad the school is being proactive and will help YOU avoid getting lice and having to deal with the messy, sometimes expensive, pain in the ass.

Contact the school and tell them you want your child checked privately.

Thanks but no thanks. School shouldn't check anyone unless there is a reason to check -- ie other active cases in the classroom or children showing signs of infestation. Nurse's discretion, but that's the criteria the nurse will apply. DCUMers are just batshit crazy over this.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lice has been with humans as long as we have been evolving.

Lice is just another contagious condition. There's no shame in it. Would you be ashamed of a cold or a runny nose?

No matter what we do or say, there will always be less-responsible or less-educated parents in the class who do *not* take responsibility for lice checking their own kids. If the school is willing to help with this, I am all for it. If the price is that my kid gets her hair looked at, that's fine. I am confident my kid doesn't have lice because I proactively comb her once a week, as everyone should be doing.

Yes the lice checks should be done in relative privacy and basic hygiene standards should be maintained such as gloves and a change of the stick or comb or whatever they are using.

Yes doctors do lice checks. I had my pediatrician do them before I knew what I was doing.

Obvs the school should not be touching your kid if you forbid it so yes, you should be able to opt out. The school should have to get permission from the parents.

If it were up to me, parents who opt out should have to get a doctor's note certifying their kid doesn't have lice. Lice is miserable.

I would want to opt out because I would be skeptical that the lice checks would work. I would not want to leave work early and pick up my kid only to find out that it is dandruff. There are a lot of false positives with lice.

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/the_kids/2015/08/lice_treatment_for_kids_don_t_panic_make_sure_it_s_actually_lice_and_choose.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of my only memories of the sole African American child in my elementary school was during the lice check when the "nurse," who looking back was likely maybe only if we were lucky some sort of trained admin/clerical, made a big deal of how hard it was to do the lice check because the little girl had her hair in pigtails/braids and her hair was "tight on her scalp." I can still remember the nurse squawking loudly "your mommy puts your hair so tight you are going to have headaches" and "how do you not have headaches." We moved soon thereafter and no idea what happened to the little girl, but maybe checking each other's bodies for bugs is a thing that needs some minimal amount of privacy and training. There's nothing shameful about lice, but there is a lot shameful about adults making it a big deal and well...a whole lot of adults are horrible people and we all know kids pick on up and follow bad adult behavior.

Well the other glaring error in this whole episode is that North American lice don't like African American hair (their little claw feet have evolved to cling to white hair) - so the little girl didn't need to be checked.

Some lice are picky, some aren't. Lice checks are a bad idea but not just for black kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One of my only memories of the sole African American child in my elementary school was during the lice check when the "nurse," who looking back was likely maybe only if we were lucky some sort of trained admin/clerical, made a big deal of how hard it was to do the lice check because the little girl had her hair in pigtails/braids and her hair was "tight on her scalp." I can still remember the nurse squawking loudly "your mommy puts your hair so tight you are going to have headaches" and "how do you not have headaches." We moved soon thereafter and no idea what happened to the little girl, but maybe checking each other's bodies for bugs is a thing that needs some minimal amount of privacy and training. There's nothing shameful about lice, but there is a lot shameful about adults making it a big deal and well...a whole lot of adults are horrible people and we all know kids pick on up and follow bad adult behavior.

Well the other glaring error in this whole episode is that North American lice don't like African American hair (their little claw feet have evolved to cling to white hair) - so the little girl didn't need to be checked.

Or at least the concern is MUCH less: http://headlicecenter.com/can-black-people-get-lice/

Interesting. I attended predominantly AA schools for elementary, and I only recall one lice check, around 4th grade. I remember the AA kids getting only a cursory check, but the white kids getting much more thorough checks. I'd always heard it was because lice "don't like" black hair products, but this article suggests that it has to do with other reasons (the shape of curly hair strands, hot combs/irons used to straighten AA hair which kills lice, etc.).