Teacher Tips for Dealing With Lice in the Classroom
As teachers, providing a productive and safe learning environment to your students is of the utmost importance. Teachers already have a lot on their plate; the last thing anyone would want is to deal with a full-blown head lice outbreak in the classroom.
But unfortunately, it’s common for school-going kids to contract head lice at one point. In fact, it’s almost like a rite of passage. So there’s a high chance that as teachers, you’ll have to deal with a lice infestation at one point or another. But since teachers aren’t really healthcare professionals, like the school nurse, it’s important that they’re trained on how to deal with lice outbreaks.
Below are a few tips to help teachers deal with lice.
Find Out What the School Policy on Lice Is
Various schools have different lice/nit policies for dealing with lice outbreaks. Some schools allow the afflicted students to stay back to complete the school day and get treatment immediately afterward. Some schools send the kids back home during the school day to deal with head lice. Some schools follow a no-nit policy in which the kid can’t come back to school unless there are no remains of nits on their hair. It’s best to know what the school policy is for head lice to deal with it the right way.Notify the Concerned Families ASAP
In case there’s a head lice outbreak in the classroom, the next step is to notify the families of all the children in the class in case they’ve gotten or might get head lice too. It’s also important to educate the parents on how lice are spread and how they can go about removing lice.
