Head Lice

Head lice can be a prominent factor of school-aged children. Head lice can be found in households, but mostly are discovered in classrooms.

What are head lice?
Head lice are small insects that feed off blood, usually living in hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes. However, head lice can be treated by using and taking different medications.

How can teachers keep head lice out of their classrooms?
Head lice can be prevented by not sharing personal items, such as, combs, brushes, hats, or scarves. It can also be prevented by avoiding physical contact with an infected person and excluding these children from school.

Should children infected with head lice be kept out of school?

Many school nurses have a policy that if there is any sign of lice living, dead, or gestating, the child should not be at school. This is to stop the re-infestation of lice throughout the classroom. On the other hand, some argue that children with lice should still be able to attend school. In conclusion, teachers might need to make the decision, whether the infected child should stay at school or leave.

The following web sites have more information about head lice and the argument to keep infected children home:
http://specialchildren.about.com/od/specialeducation/i/headlice_2.htm
http://edcp.org/factsheets/headlice.html

Guest Blogger Kimberly Deitrick