Toddlers
What We Saw: The teacher returns
from the next room with a report of lice being found on
a child there. The children from this classroom play in
that room at the end of the day. The teacher gets out
a bin of clean combs and sits down to inspect each child's
hair for evidence of lice. She asks a boy "want me to
check your hair?" and he sits. When she finishes, she
draws a smiley face on the child's hand. Then she calls
another child over. She repeats this process with all
the children in the room. Each child comes willingly and
even eagerly to sit and have her comb through his/her
hair. One boy runs up excitedly, saying, "check my hair!"
The teacher does, and then he walks away with a smile,
looking at the smiley face on his hand.
What It Means: Whenever groups of
people come together, health and safety must be considered.
Regular checks for head lice are part of an overall effort
to prevent spread of infection and promote good health.
Here, the children respond positively to the teacher's
attention. The head check provides the teacher with an
opportunity to give each child some personal attention.
The touching and contact experienced during the check
seems soothing to the children, providing a special connection
with them to their teacher.
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