We couldn’t help but notice this article by Sarah Williams and Leon Benade floating around the Internet this week. It’s such an important topic and speaks directly to the mission and journey we’ve set for ISpy.
Essentially the core message in the piece is that health and education are tied inextricably and our tamariki are underperforming in school because we haven’t yet created the right environment for them to succeed due to our siloed approach to just about everything.
Put another way, unless they’re healthy and happy they just can’t learn effectively and we have to deal with that by getting the publicly funded resources that are available to line up.
Our focus is nits. And yes, we’re not curing cancer, but nits is actually a really really interesting case and point for this conversation because nits affects 1 in 3 kids in NZ at least once a year based on MoH data and it does take them out of school (based on MoH advice) and we could deal with them so much better.
The other side of nits which is both interesting and concerning is the mental health aspect / stigma. Kids get ostracized because of a real lack of understanding and it can be immensely damaging. Some kids just don’t make it back to school with the 2022 Missing Out_ Why Our Children Aren’t Going to School report from the NZ Education Review Office citing fear of social ostracization as one of the key factors in unjustified absenteeism.
The lack of understanding isn’t just at the student level; even the most invested parents struggle to identify nit eggs early and understand the life cycle with a myriad of advice, “hacks” and suggestions offered across the internet often without any scientific backing.
In this humble NitPicker’s opinion, one of the biggest barriers to head lice in NZ in addition to education is our lack of data. We don’t truly understand how many rangatahi are affected at any one time or the different barrier types; instead we rely on estimates and extrapolated data from other countries.
But if we could conduct the research study we are aiming to, we could capture prevalence, barriers and mental health impacts and head lice impact on educational standards and absenteeism in schools.
And as the NZ Education Review Office points out, education shouldn’t just sit across the schools. It is a responsibility that falls across communities and whanau to wrap around and engage with and we think ISpyNits can help.
ISpyNits’ vision is more than just a product. Having spun out of Waipapa Taumata Rau we have a vested interest in the wider academic picture and want to empower schools, communities and whanau with integrated health and education programmes, subsidized NitKits and digestible access to the latest head lice research.
Let’s engage younger learners with creepy crawly facts and glow in the dark science and show our older students how nits play a role in bioluminescence and mapping of ancient civilizations.
It’s not rocket science, it’s also not the highest priority in the world, but knowledge is power.
The power to destigmatize a common condition, the power to make smart choices around managing lice and the power to increase accessibility for those who need it.
