School has begun and the related issues for allergic children are beginning again. I have spent the last 10 minutes catching up on my Google alerts, and I am really disturbed by what I am reading.
First a story of a 19 year old high school student who smeared peanut butter on an allergic classmate. Fortunately there was no reaction, but what was he thinking? What kind of person does that? I do not think I will ever understand bullying, I guess this kid was just trying to get off on a power trip. The police are looking into the situation, but the victim did not want to press charges. Why would he? That could just set him up to continue to be a target.
Then a story about a school secretary who resigned from her job due to the schools no nut policy. Apparently they do regular lunchbox checks to make sure that no one brings in any peanut product. (how the school has time to do that I'll never know) Parents feel that it is a hassle, and she is getting a lot of community support towards a petition to change the policy.
Finally a story about a boy who was pulled out of school when students threw rocks at him and said they were peanuts. Apparently the school also has a no nut policy, which is under fire from non allergic parents. This poor kid is under so much pressure because his classmates can not have the treats and food they like because of his peanut allergy. How is a child supposed to learn and thrive in that kind of environment?
It seems like this peanut / no peanut issue is tearing some schools and communities apart. Because of "those parents" that their child can not take their favorite treat to school. Believe me , I sympathise - I know it is a pain to have to read the labels. I do it every day for 9 different allergens! Why are we so focused on the foods we can or can not bring to school. We should be focused on education and nurturing the next generation.
My allergic boys are not in public school yet. so I have not had to deal with this directly. Our schools are not nut free, but they seem to be very nut aware - requesting that food eaten in the classroom (only snack) does not contain peanut products. Peanut products are allowed in the cafeteria, but there is always a buffer around the allergic child of friends who are not eating peanut butter. My daughter and her friends are learning to be considerate of their classmates with peanut allergies.
To be honest, I do not what nuts banned from our school. I do not think it is the best way to handle the situation. Peanuts are also not the only allergen out there. I think it can make our kids targets to ridicule from classmates as well as insensitive parents. Clearly many people don't get it, they never will. They do not want to be bothered with worrying about food allergies because of some other kids. Some people are just like that. We need to teach our kids the skills they need to survive in a world with peanuts and insensitive people.
5 comments:
I agree, these stories are extremely disturbing. My PA son starts kindergarten in September 2009, and I feel he should be able to attend public school. We moved to this town for the excellent schools. But I am afraid too. Insensitive and ignorant people are everywhere. I guess the best thing to do is prepare as much as possible and take it one day at a time.
mznwsI am a mom of a 12 year old with severe peanut allergies and I agree that banning peanuts not only creates a sense of hostility but also is a false sense of security for our children. Unfortunately, many people just do not want to learn how to adapt to food allergies.. school boards just worry about legal action and ban the peanuts without research or clear headed thinking. We both know how hard it is to really figure out what does and does not harm our children -the research on all the different school related issues doesn't exist, yet. So, food allergic parents only know for sure to treat allergens like poision... and banning poision is logical. SO many issues but no easy answers...
Great Blog! My son is allergic to soy peanuts eggs wheat and dairy. He is only 19 months old (so no school yet!) but I wonder what is going to be like when he gets there.
I started a website I thought you might be interested in www.spewdfree.com All of the recipes are free of soy,peanuts,eggs,wheat and dairy.
Thanks,
Heather
Thanks for all your replies! It is hard not to let emotions cloud our thinking. We need to remain calm and develop really positive relationships the our schools.
I also think a total peanut ban is impractical and can target the allergic students with harmful attention and bullying.
However, limiting the number of peanut products in class treats, for example, is doable. I am the Treats Mom each year in order to ensure no one else has to be inconvenienced by my daughter's allergy.
I agree with you that school needs to be about education and not eating!!! I've never understood the connection.
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