Well with two kids one of whom is a daughter with "Hermione Hair" (from the Harry Potter movie) I've had some experience. Orillia is having an epidemic of the problem (don't you hate how your head starts to itch as soon as you hear the word 'lice', scratch scratch). I used all the pretty chemical stuff the first couple of times and then decided I didn't like putting pesticides on my kid's heads. A doctor at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto recommends using half and half mineral oil and vinegar. Mix 'em together, really shake them up, glop the lot on the head, getting it all through the hair and on the scalp and then put a shower cap on for an hour. After that wash it out and then comb and pick nits for a long while (listening to goon shows or books on tape while you do this is a good idea). Check again every couple of days and keep removing any nits you might find. You will get rid of them.

Don't be embarassed to write a note to your child's teacher about it. If he's got it so does somebody else and the best way to get rid of the problem is for everyone to be vigilant at the same time.

I got desperate a couple of years ago and started looking around on the net. The biggest thing I noticed was that those sites that sold stuff wanted you to steam clean your entire house using what they sold. Those sites that weren't selling anything tended to be a lot less paranoid. A doctor in Australia checked all the hats of kids in a school where a hundred or so students had head lice. He didn't find a single louse in a hat. Lice don't like to leave a head without going straight to another head so if they fall off they are usually sick and dying anyway. Lice can live for a short while off of the head but it depends on environmental conditions. Basically higher humidity means they live longer. Putting clothes and bedding in a dryer on high for twenty or so minutes should kill anything.