Changes needed to school policies

Letters to the editor - Dear Editor:

This letter is concerning the outbreak of head lice in schools. My daughter is a student at Memorial Academy in Botwood who has come home with it three times, she had it the third week of school then the last week before Christmas holidays, and the first three days back after Christmas, surprise there it was again. I pulled her from school every time and did the treatments and many, many hours of picking each day. I did not send her to school until she was nit free!

She hasn't attended school since I found it the third time because she does not want to go back; she is scared of getting it again; she doesn't want it anymore. I washed her bed clothes daily, vacuumed and bagged her stuffed animals for three weeks just to be sure the little critters were all gone. I also contacted the school each time and the school board, only to find out there was "nothing" they could do to help me. They said you couldn't deny a child access to the school because they have head lice. Two other parents are also not allowing their children to go back to school. It is unfair to them; they are the poor little dears who are suffering. My child is six and when she looks up at you and cries to you, "Why me, Mommy, is this my fault?" That hurts. Another little girl said "Mommy, my life is ruined."

The current process does not work. Here are some suggestions on things that we think that can be done in the classrooms to help stop spreading head lice:

Each child having their own desk, not six kids to a table.

Limit group activities - there is no reason why the children can't stay in their seats to hear a story rather than all on a mat.

When there is a case reported within a classroom the school should call in the public health nurse and have her check the children's heads in that classroom and send the folks who have head lice home with a bottle of shampoo {because some parents cannot afford it} The child should not be allowed to re attend school until they are nit free and this should be determined by a public health nurse.

Send proper directions to parents - educate the parents on how to get rid of the problem. Stress the importance of a second application of the special shampoo.

All couches should be removed from classrooms as well.

Clean the school, we have to thoroughly vacuum our homes, the school should have to as well.

Public Health say that research has shown that checking for head lice at schools is not effective. But we think otherwise, it wasn't heard of like it is now when we went to school because everyone can remember the nurse coming in and taking you all to a room and having your heads checked. If you had it you were sent home until it was cleaned up.

We feel it is unfair to us parents, who ensure our children are nit free before sending them to back to school, to have our children return to school, only to get it again because other parents are not taking the proper steps to ensure their children are nit free before sending them back to school.

We, as the parents of Grade 1 students and other kids in the school think that because there are so many kids who are getting this there should be further action taken.

Regards,

April Budgell

Botwood