Head lice most commonly affect children between the ages of four and 11, so with up to 1.5 million children carrying lice at any one time, schools become a breeding ground for recurrent infections. Research reveals that 75% of parents have dealt with head lice on their children’s hair, and a quarter have dealt with more than five infections. Over half of these parents have also caught head lice themselves.

Almost 60% of adults were in agreement that head lice outbreaks are becoming more frequent, and despite Department of Health guidelines for infection control strongly advising against this, 44% of parents have kept their child at home because of infections. This means the average child has not attended school for at least one day per term due to head lice.

12% of mums have lied to other parents about their children having head lice and 13% have denied the fact their child has lice to the school or teacher. Three quarters of parents become frustrated with those parents or guardians who take little or no action to combat head lice.

15% of parents said they had felt victimised by teachers because of infestations, yet, one in 10 still do not check their child’s head. 46% don’t understand the need to regularly check for lice, whilst 25% thought the school would be checking for them. A quarter of parents would welcome a deterrent for these parents while 20% believe the school should let them know which parents are responsible.