When head lice is going around in school, the school sends a letter or email to the parents so that parents can check their children's hair. Parents will check their kids' hair for lice but most parents don't really know what they are looking for. When examining your child's hair for head lice, you need to look for the nits (eggs) not the actual bug. The nits are cemented to the hair shaft. You will not find nits on the scalp of your child's head. The reason for why you will not be looking the bug itself is because when you open the hair, the head lice will move away from the light. Head lice move very fast going from hair to hair in half of a second. The nits are cemented to the hair shaft and they do not move. The nits are not white, they go from light brown to dark brown. If you are confused, and cannot distinguish lice from dandruff, all you have to do is try to move what is found on the head. If it moves and it flakes away, it is dandruff. If it doesn't move and feels like a tiny pebble, then you have found a nit. When checking your child's head for lice, check very thoroughly for about 15 minutes, if you don't find anything, check again in a week just in case that your child has an early infestation. When the nits are first laid, they are translucent and are very hard to see.
