Two Florida counties keep ‘no nits’ policy in barring students with head lice from school

Head lice get a bad rap. Yes they’re pesky and send parents straight to anxiety central, but they aren’t life-threatening and they aren’t cause for keeping kids out of school. So said the American Academy of Pediatrics in a report this summer that advised school districts across the nation to abandon their traditional “no nits” policy that bar children from classrooms if they have lice eggs (nits) in their hair.

Two counties in Florida, the Sun Sentinel reports, say not so fast. They are balking at changing policies meant to slow spread of the condition that’s transmitted by head-to-head contact, something that makes children ideal carriers. “My kids aren’t gross and dirty,” says Ali Roth of Boca Raton, whose children came home from summer camp with head lice. “People get lice from someplace. My kids didn’t invent it, and I know that. But what I don’t know is whether the parents I’m calling realize that.” Read the Sun Sentinel’s full coverage of the issue at “Schools cling to questionable no-nit policies” and “Head-scratchers: Myths about lice.”

How do you get rid of lice? First, stop panicking. Second, read the Academy of Pediatrics report that explains specific treatments and the effectiveness of each (yes, lice have become drug-resistant). Third, do a better job of de-lousing kids.

--Mary Forgione