A parent's dilemma

[wormster]

That second shot looks like hunters hole!!

 

[Dave H]

My girls have very long hair. We condition and use a metal comb before washing out the conditioner, but it still takes between 1 and 2 weeks to get rid of everything. We are told that the nits at their school seem to be immune to all the usual chemicals. Anyway, the girls stay clear of them for a month or two until they have to do an activity with the kids from the social housing.  And no, I'm not being snobby here, it is well known to the school, LEA, social services, etc. which family are the usual source of the nits, but the authorities seem to be unable to do anything about it. (When the teachers made those children work on a table on their own, their parents kicked up such a fuss, calling the press, radio, and even the MP!)

 

[Dep]

A rare shot of cavers preparing a lethal cocktail of nit-zapping pesticides. For safety reasons, this operation was performed deep underground and out of the gaze of public scrutiny.

Later that day, a willing volunteer applied the gunk to his hairy pate and within 24 hours was clearly pleased with the results.
Now we just have to find a way to stop the hair falling out.

 

[Dep]

That second shot looks like hunters hole!!

it is indeed.

 

[Dep]

...
it is well known to the school, LEA, social services, etc. which family are the usual source of the nits, but the authorities seem to be unable to do anything about it. ...

yup - that's the real problem.
Personally I found it unaceptable that my children came home infested with lice.
If it happened to you in the workplace you'd have clear grounds to force your employer to remedy the situation toute-suite!

 

[Peter Burgess]

Or even tout de suite, monsieur. 

 

[ttxela]

The days of the nit nurse seem to be long gone. A few years ago there used to be letters sent home saying there were nits in the class and could everyone treat their childrens hair. I am told that this is now not the done thing as it may upset some parents/children as they feel singled out/picked on/whatever. It does now seem that this is not done any more.

Unless the whole class carries out the treatment at once the lice just go round and round......

I suppose kids can be cruel so there may be some justification to this but it does seem to have removed a practical solution.

 

[Dep]

Or even tout de suite, monsieur. 

Are you sure you don't want to stay on as forum pedant? 

For some odd reason at my school French and Maths were setted together - I was in top set for Maths as I was very good at it - and consequently in the top set for French as well - where I wasn't. Most of it went over my head, and to this day I have not met a Frenchman who did not speak better English than my apalling French.

However, I was writing in colloquial English - toute-suite will do for me!

 

[Dep]

...
I suppose kids can be cruel so there may be some justification to this but it does seem to have removed a practical solution.

The thing is though is that the kids themselves know who has nits so the teasing and name calling still happens anyway.
Fortunately the problem appears to cease when they go to secondary school - teenagers are probably too pheromonal for nits to like living on them, god knows no one else can stand them!

 

[ttxela]

teenagers are probably too pheromonal for nits to like living on them, god knows no one else can stand them!

I'm told that it is quite rare for men over 30 to become infested as well, they can live in the hair but there aren't enough female hormones in your blood when they bite you to make them fertile enough to lay eggs.

 

[Dep]

Yes - and the much softer and thinner skin of kids plus their associative habits.
Adults generally keep further apart and usually have developed personal hygiene routines that kids often lack.