A Teacher’s Guide To Lice
Lice is very prevalent in school-aged children, specifically among younger children, due to their frequent close contact. This puts classrooms at a high risk for being a breeding ground for lice. This leads to frustrations, especially for a teacher who has to navigate around absences due to an outbreak.
The CDC estimates that 6-12 million children, ages 3-11, are exposed to lice yearly. To reduce the chances that the children in your classroom are part of that statistic check out our tips and tricks below.
Encourage Personal Space
The top way lice spread is through head-to-head contact, so it is important to encourage personal space in the classroom. Younger children are much more likely to get lice during play or group activities so we encourage all teachers to explain how lice is spread. If the children understand this concept, you may be able to prevent a few outbreaks.
Limit Shared Items
Avoid communal use of hats, scarves, hair accessories, headphones, and pillows. When lice are not spreading head-to-head, they are spreading from being exposed to these items, and then someone uses it shortly after, and the infestation continues. It is a good idea to also explain how lice spreads to discourage the sharing of these items if they are bringing their own to the classroom.
Maintain A Clean Environment
Whether you have communal or shared spaces in a classroom, it is important to keep all spaces clean to help avoid a lice outbreak. If you can launder the items, that will help. If you can’t, vacuuming them and using our all-natural lice prevention spray will also do the trick. Although washing and vacuuming won’t completely get rid of lice, they can’t survive more than 1-2 days off of the scalp so taking these items out of commission once in a while from the classroom will help get rid of any lice outbreak.
Regular Inspections
Encourage your school administration to conduct regular inspections to avoid lice getting out of control. Regular screenings can catch an infestation early on, stopping it in its tracks so it does not infest the entire school. Our Hair Fairies team can help with regular lice screenings, as well as materials and resources for staff and parents to be informed, making your job easier!
For 25 years we have been helping teachers and schools not only avoid lice outbreaks but helping when they do happen. You are not alone, we are always here to help with resources and be a helpful hand when lice stress strikes.
Welcome to the Hair Fairies blog where we share education, tips, and professional guidance on all things head lice.
