Parents and Students Face Off on School Peanut Ban (bus is evacuated after a nut is found on floor)

[The Straight Story]

Parents and Students Face Off on School Peanut Ban

A whole school bus is evacuated after a nut is found on the floor. A grove of hickory trees bearing nuts is cut down. Cupcakes in the classroom are contraband.

In the last decade, the number of children under the age of 18 with food allergies spiked 17 percent, and extreme measures are being taken to protect them. But experts and parents are having a hard time agreeing on how much protection is enough -- and how much is too much.

Harvard Medical School professor Nicholas Christakis has suggested that reactions to food allergies are bordering on hysteria.

"We don't need to ban nuts from an entire school in order to appropriately respond to the very legitimate needs of children who have nut allergies," said Christakis.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Weekend/story?id=7141066&page=1

[Catch22Dem]

1. Bordering on hysteria indeed!

My daughter's middle school has this policy now. I've already been flamed for saying this on DU once before, but it's ridiculous the lengths we're going to.

[LostinVA]

3. No flaming from me -- it's bonkers

My mother, a Pediatric nurse, agrees. And, I ahve a severe specific food allergy as a kid.

[ET Racer]

5. Peanut allergies

are nothing to make fun of but the continued overreaction might be counter productive
My son came home from his allergy tests with a list a mile long of "alergies" and Peanuts were listed in the top 5.
He let it be known one day, like 3rd graders will do, all dramatic like, that he was allergic to peanuts and the school went batshit crazy!
I found it ammusing that since kindergarten he had been eating PB sandwiches for lunch every day. He loves the stuff and we have never, ever seen a reaction.
he's a 6th grader now, doing the allergy shot thing since horses and cats are top of the list and very common around here.

[The Straight Story]

9. My parents had me tested when I was young

same sort of thing, a list a mile long including peanuts. I came home and made myself a PB sandwich. I had been eating them a lot anyway for lunch.

The only reason I remember that day was how they tested me, needles. Mom was none to happy to realize that it was all BS. She still talked about it years later. A few months before she passed on she was relating that story (and another one about me and pacifiers...jeesh mom!) to a friend of mine.

Not saying some kids aren't in danger from them, but sometimes parents do know better than the doc.

[Deja Q]

2. Somebody's nuts, but it's not the peanut.

A peanut is neither a pea or a nut.

:yoiks:

[valerief]

13. Its name bothers me, too. nt

[Stevenmarc]

4. Domestic Terrorist

[ColbertWatcher]

7. Al-Egume, a sub cell of Al Qaeda. n/t

[JerseygirlCT]

6. I also think it's moved on toward hysteria

My child's school has also undertaken a push for healthy food. Sounds great, right? It doesn't seem to extend to the lunch menu - it only seems to mean that we're supposed to purchase "healthy" (????) snacks like baked Doritos from the school to hand out at birthdays. No cupcakes, please.

Sorry, I'd rather I could send muffins or cupcakes - and take care if there's an allergic child in the classroom to respect that - than buy bags of junk food for them. And gee, Doritos are so festive!

[Emit]

8. I agree with the part about food in the classroom being monitored

We have a policy here in our schools that food for parties, treats, etc. in the classroom have to be labeled. And most of the teachers we have avoid foods that their students are allergic to.

Unfortunately, not all the teachers follow the rule, however. My son, who is allergic to tree nuts and peanuts, has, on more than one occasion, been left out of getting treats because the food was not labeled.

Now, the first two times this happened, despite my son's sadness - he's only 7 - I didn't say anything to the teachers, and I took it upon myself to be proactive around the holidays and bring in his own candy/treats.

Recently, however, when the class decided to do a taste test for their Science project, the teachers brought in 3 brands of ice cream - one containing pistachios, and another processed in a facility with nuts!

My son had to sit out. Again. I finally went in to see them about this and said, "You know he's allergic to nuts, you brought in ice cream that contained nuts, he's only 7yrs old, how is this fair?"

I told them I can fully understand how difficult it is to have my son in their classroom, because now his nut allergy is their responsibility within the classroom. I explained how our own family had had to change their purchasing habits based on reading all labels. I even brought in extra bags of treats with my son's name on it to give in the event they have any more of these occurrences - I reminded them that the school rule is that any item brought in has to have a label, and be appropriate for all the kids (this one issue, I had not really ever pushed before, because I think my son is the only one in the class of 32 that has a food allergy, but I could be wrong - his Kindergarten teacher was very strict about this rule and never even let us open a package if it had nuts or wheat - she had my son and another kid with a wheat allergy).

[The Straight Story]

11. That sucks

I have a 7 year old myself and know how their feelings can easily be hurt.

[sakura]

15. Did your teacher send a note home about this project?

Usually teachers will when food is going to be sampled.

[Emit]

16. No, they did not

My son mentioned it the afternoon before, but, I honestly didn't think that it would be an issue, because I know that both his teachers know he can't have nuts. They bought the ice cream.

The two times in the past that he was excluded from treats were when parents had brought in treats for birthdays, and since the treats did not have labels, the teachers did not allow him to have any, and they didn't have an alternative treat on hand.

[sakura]

18. Have you thought about having an alternative treat on hand?

As for your son's teacher not telling you about the food being tested as part of the curriculum, she completely dropped the ball. She shouldn't have offered something that every student couldn't eat. This is completely different from treats brought in by other parents-- that is an extra, this is a part of the curriculum. My son's teacher sends a letter home each week with details of the next week's plans, as well as specific pleas for assistance. She would have asked for a parent to donate the ice cream because on her salary she can't afford to pay for all of the lab supplies (the school does not have the budget to pay for most classroom supplies). Parents are always happy to contribute, because they realize their child will have a richer experience as a result. Perhaps you can ask her to send home a similar notice, and let her know you'd be happy to chip in for the more specialized foods your son requires assuming she's paying for this out of pocket and not out of a supply budget.

As for the birthday treats-- where cupcakes or similar are brought in by a parent-- one of my son's best friends (age 9) is allergic to almost everything (nuts, eggs, soybeans, wheat, milk) and his twin sister is allergic to another large, though different list of ingredients. His mom has dealt with this by having the type of cookie they both can eat on hand in the classroom (coconut macaroons)-- they'd miss out on birthday celebrations otherwise. Have you thought about doing the same? At my house, I make a special effort to make sure to serve a dinner that my friend's son will be able to eat, but that's different because he's our guest. I wouldn't offer my hospitality if I couldn't feed him, and I'm willing to take the extra time to purchase the foods he can eat (rice milk, etc). But school is different. If other parents are unwilling to bring in special treats for your son, it's not the teacher's duty to do so.

Good luck making sure this doesn't happen again! It's not right that your son was left out.

[Emit]

23. That's exactly how we resolved it

I have now provided a bag of treats for the teachers to keep on hand for the duration of the school year. And, I requested that they notify me a head of time in the event they are planning a special occasion, like the ice cream testing thingy. I assured them that I would be more than willing to purchase items for the whole class, or, some alternative item for my son, whichever they needed.

With the birthday things, they have a large class, because it's a team-teaching thing, and no notice is given when other parents bring in treats. So I pretty much just have to rely on the teachers, now, to give him the treat I've provided them with as a substitute for whatever cake, etc. the other parents bring. I didn't feel comfortable asking his teachers to try to notify me about those occasions - thought it too much of a burden on them.

Speaking of accomodating your guests, I really appreciate your sensitivity on the matter. In our extended family, it has been very difficult for them to understand the seriousness of my son's allergy. I can't tell you how many times we've gone to a family member's birthday party where cake is served that has been made in a facility that processes nuts - this happened just recently, where my sis-in-law bought the cake from Costco.

Thanks for the ideas and thoughts. I, too, felt that 'hurt-feeling' pain in my heart for my son on these occasions when he was left out - it's just so hard to deal with when you are only 7 years old!

[sakura]

24. Big hug for your son

:hug:

Feeling left out is never fun.

Hopefully he'll outgrow the allergies-- this is what I hope for my friend's son. He's quite comfortable now with the differences in treats at school, but his diet is so rigid that it must get boring for him. I rack my brain trying to figure out what to serve him, esp. for breakfast after sleepovers. So much of our diet is based on bread, milk, etc.

[MrsMatt]

10. No argument from me

and my daughter is severely allergic to Brazil nuts (oddly enough, she's not allergic to any other tree nut with the exception of pine nuts) - exposure to either calls for an application of benadryl and her epipen and a trip to the ER. Her allergist says that she may develop allergies to other tree nuts, so we avoid them.

That said, a little common sense goes a long way.

[Diane R]

12. My son had a severe peanut allergy, and keeping him safe was tough...but these parents are extreme.

My son is 28, so I had to try to keep him safe when there was little understanding of the allergy. That said, I did it. And I did it without making everyone else accomodate him.

If there was a planned activity with peanut butter, (peanut butter in pinecones for bird feeder), I kept him home. He sat at a lunch table in the cafeteria with friends who had not brought a peanut butter sandwich. I volunteered for school parties and outings.

Demanding that a bus be evacuated for a single, loose peanut is crazy. It's not necessary, even for extremely allergic children. It's simply yielding to a parent who wants attention, who thinks their child should be recognized as 'special'.

Parents who demand these extremem measures that are not necessary make it harder for parents who really do need small accomodations for their child. One of the hardest things for me was to follow a parent who had cried 'wolf' needlessly; educators were less likely to take my son's very real threats seriously.

[BlooInBloo]

14. hahahah!

[RagAss]

17. LOL !!!>...I'm pissin my pants here !!!!

[SoCalDem]

19. If it's so widespread, why not just open peanut-free schools

magnet schools & charter schools open all the time for other reasons, why not for peanuts:)

[d_r]

20. it may be a little over the top.

my son is allergic to strawberries. It isn't going to kill him, but I'd rather him not get a reaction to them. His teachers try to remember not to let a child with strawberries sit next to him. There is a peanut ban in the school and the classroom, even though no child in the class has a peanut allergy. No peanuts, but strawberries are fine even though there is a kid actually allergic to them. Another little girl has an egg allergy, but those aren't off limits either.

The reason for the big emphasis on nuts and peanuts is that the reaction is so severe. No one wants a child to have an anaphylactic (sic) reaction and go to the emergency room and all that.

But here's the thing about over-reacting. Deaths from nut allergies usually happen to teens and 20's. It is very rare for a younger child to die from this - not to be overly cavalier, but here is the thing. You have the whole internet in front of you. Newspapers from all over the world. How many examples of a pre-teen child actually dieing from a nut/peanut allergy can you find? One? Two? Over the past several years maybe 2 or 3. In the US there are about 150 deaths from ALL food allergies each year. Out of 300 million people, 150 deaths. Again, not to be cavalier, that is 150 tragedies for 150 families. But how many of those were pre-teen children dieing from nut allergies? Zero? One? Most common allergy prevention steps would protect against that risk. I mean I guess it could be a valid argument to keep peanuts away from 1,000's of children in school to maybe save one child's life, but let's be honest about what that risk is - it isn't as if hundreds - or even dozens - of children are dieing in our schools from peanuts.

Again, I don't want to sound uncaring - I have friends with nut allergies, and I don't want any child sick.

[Critters2]

21. I was at an event where people brought food to share. A mother asked

whether there were nuts in the desserts, said her son is allergic to nuts. The ladies at the dessert table said nothing had nuts, so she took a brownie. Then, one of the women had a second thought, and went over to her and said "The brownies have peanut butter. I didn't think about it, because peanuts aren't really nuts." OMG!!! You'd think the kid had been purposely poisoned!! She made a scene, yelled across the room to her husband to find the epi pen, and then barked at the poor woman who was trying to be helpful.


And, truth be told, peanuts aren't nuts, after all. They're legumes.

[maynard]

22. evacuation can be justified......

It all depends on how many lawsuits have been filed where the parents have won. Frivolous lawsuits in my school district are on the rise. All a parent has to do is to threaten and the district backs down. It makes it very hard to enforce discipline as well as curriculum standards.

[rebecca_herman]

25. It seems way too extreme

If these children cannot even be in the same room as a bit of peanut dust how will they ever survive in the real world? What if the kid next to them on the bus had peanuts for breakfast and still has some on clothes/hands? If they go to college, can they demand a nut-free dorm? A nut free college cafeteria? A nut free workplace as an adult? I doubt it. I just don't think expecting a nut-free environment is realistic. I feel bad for kids with special needs - I had to be homeschooled for a few years beacause of a different special need - but I honestly don't think a kid THAT sick belongs in a school. If my child would die from being in the same room as a nut, they'd be homeschooled, period. Nuts are in too many freaking products to expect a nut-free environment IMO.