Picture this, it’s 1998 and you’re called to the principal’s office. Not because you flung paper clips at the substitute teacher again, but because your deskmate who has been missing since this morning went home thanks to head lice. Now, the school nurse is tasked with checking your head. Sorting strand by strand to see if tiny, six-legged insects are clinging to your scalp.
If they are, your future includes a missed day or two of school. If not, you’ll live in fear of every little head itch over the next couple of days. What remains a peculiar childhood memory for many, no longer exists for today’s school-aged kids, and that’s because the guidance on how to handle lice in an educational setting has changed. As kids return to school, they embark on yet another year where school nurses will continue to debunk and destigmatize head lice.
