It's common knowledge — when kids have head lice, they shouldn't go to school. But a report just released by the American Academy of Pediatrics says it does no good to force children to stay home at the first sign of nits — small, empty louse egg casings — in their hair. "It makes no medical sense because the nits... they're really stuck on the kid's hair," said Dr. Barbara Frankowski, a co-author of the report, as quoted by Reuters. "It just sort of increases the hysteria and it makes kids miss school unnecessarily." Should parents listen to this unconventional wisdom?
There's no reason to freak out over lice: The doctors are right, says Alexandra Gekas at Woman's Day. "While absolutely gross, head lice don't really do any damage" — they don't spread disease — "so the real damage may be done when kids are pulled out of school." Kids who have a few nits may never get a full infestation. Instead of torturing your children by quarantining them, clean their bedding in hot water, shampoo them with drugstore treatments, and send them back to class.
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