Saw this on the news today, all over peanuts....unbelievable

[princessmom29]

I don't know. I'd have to deal with it if the issue arouse.

I only know what we deal with right now and dealing with a peanut free school is not a hardship.

think about everything you eat that contains milk, egg, soy, or wheat. Could you cut it all out without it being a hardship? I think you know the answer.

 

[princessmom29]

i have no idea about the mouthwash. That is not a procedure taken in our school

Unless they are using something potentially harmful to the kids, there is no way it degrades the allergen, so it would do more harm than good.

 

[livndisney]

If a child were to die from store bought popcicles then yep - no problem, won't bring them in. Store bought cupcakes - okey dokey - won't bring them in.

There is a difference between a food allergy and a life threatening food allergy. My son is allergic to milk, but he's not going to die if Jimmy is eating a cheese sandwich beside him. He's not going to die if the class is having ice cream cones. He's not going to die if he touches it. He just can't eat it.

Like I said for ME it's a small sacrifice to make for a CHILD.

Yes, I know the difference between a food allergy and a life threatening food allergy considering we live with both on a daily basis. And the reactions are intensifing with each exposure. We manage our allergies as best we can without banning things from others.

In my experience most people who support bans on peanuts do not think anyone else allergy/needs are as important.

In the case of the child in mentioned in the article, from various reports she manages in the "real world" without bans and rinsing of mouths.

 

[livndisney]

I don't know. I'd have to deal with it if the issue arouse.

I only know what we deal with right now and dealing with a peanut free school is not a hardship.

It is not a hardship to YOU. To others with an already limited diet it is. To others who have very few choices food wise it is a hardship.

 

[Sugar Jones]

think about everything you eat that contains milk, egg, soy, or wheat. Could you cut it all out without it being a hardship? I think you know the answer.

Okay I've nice here. Just explaining how I feel and how the ban has affected use. Please don't EVER tell me how I feel, or that you know what I'm thinking. I have no idea how I would react in that situation, so you have NO right assume I would.


I already cut milk and peanuts out of our diets - The peanuts is NOT hard, so if it's not hard to do and it will enable a child to attend regular school i still stand by it.

The others are more difficult to cut out. Trust me I know - milk is in everything. Thanks be to God that my son's allergy is not anaphylactic. He gets hives, cramps and diarrhea but only from ingestion so the rest of us can eat and drink milk. I do have to make special meals for him and read labels. The others examples I agree with you. They are in everything and would be more difficult and almost impossible to remove completely from a school.


However peanuts are not in everything and are extremely easy to remove from a school. That's the difference.

 

[shefrn1]

first of all ....I can't answer your mouthwashing question...lol...cause i know you are really looking for an answer....lol

anyway......my kids aren't school aged yet but this is a big concern to me...one of the only things my DD3 eats is peanut butter for lunch...she loves it...yes i can get her to eat other proteins for dinner but if i try to pack up leftovers and give it to her for lunch the next day she won't touch it...so one of my fears when she does go to school is that the school/classroom will be peanut free

on the other hand i have a DS 18 months old who is allergic to milk, eggs and dogs (thankfully not peanuts).......he only gets hives but especially with eggs they can get pretty severe....and yes, even to the touch.....there is no way that i would ask others to stop giving their kids eggs or milk for breakfast just because he has an egg/milk allergy!!!! i will send him with things he is able to eat and teach him how to be safe....yes that's difficult to do when they are little but that's the way it's gonna have to be and i have taught his sister to look out for him and what he can have and what he can't....actually i should say that she taught herself lol.....i would never but that burden on her.

am i supposed to ask people not to walk their dogs in the park because my son is allergic to them...no....i'll teach him to stay away....i know that's a little different but it's sort of the same concept

i have a friend with a DD who has a severe anaphylactic reaction to milk....and she was taught at a very young age to only eat the things mom sent with her...and when they had a class party (for anyones birthdays or holidays) mom sent her in with a special cupcake just for her.....no biggie!!!

some of my fondest memories of school where always the parties and when kids brought in 'treats' for their birthdays......and now some of these memories are being taken away from the children....i would never want to be the one responsible for that

and i do totally feel for that girls parents but like others have said....where do you draw the line.

i can't see asking so many others to change their habits/behaviors especially in their own home.....but on the other hand if someone asked me to do it I would but i don't see how it is fair

 

[clanmcculloch]

think about everything you eat that contains milk, egg, soy, or wheat. Could you cut it all out without it being a hardship? I think you know the answer.

Actually I do know first hand what's involved unfortunately. Those are all on at least one of my kids' lists of allergies. That being said, my kids' allergies are not life threatening so in no way would I ever ask for a ban at the school. All I've ever asked is that the teachers send a note to parents at the beginning of the year asking for 2 days NOTICE if they're going to send snacks to the classroom so that I could provide my kids with a safe alternative. You'd think I was asking for the world. I didn't even ONCE get this kind of notice. Heck, even the class parents wouldn't let me know before class parties. Usually teachers would let me know if parties would be happening but even then not always. I always made sure that the teachers had a box of their favourite snacks in their classrooms just in case which was a good thing because it was very rare that I'd get notified of snacks being brought in by anybody (and yes I paid for the snacks and sent them in). Wow, that vent was longer than I intended. LOL I guess my point is that the parents who are protesting mostly would likely complain about any inconvenience. I try to not inconvenience anybody but how about just a smidge of courtesy? Sending in a note the one time in the year you want to send in cupcakes is not asking much.

DD13 was put into a classroom that was listed as peanut free for 4th grade. She has a long list of allergies of her own plus she's autistic so we were very limitted in what she could eat. At the time all she would eat for lunch was peanutbutter sandwiches. When I saw the classroom assignment I immediately called the school about getting her switched to another classroom. Luckily they had forgotten to take away the warning for this class as it had been peanut free the previous year but not that year so it wasn't an issue. Since that time she's learned to eat other lunch foods (thank goodness since she's now developed a mild peanut allergy), but I'm not sure what I would have done if she attended a school like the one in the article back then. I would have had to insist that either the other child or my child (up to the school which) get bussed to another school so that both kids' disabilities could be met. The school would have had to absorb the cost of bussing one of the kids since they're both covered under ADA law. I'm very much opposed to parents who do ask for more than is needed for their kids and I try very hard to only ask for what is really needed and hopefully with the least impact to those around us.

Unless the child can not go to public places without people having to take these same actions then I don't understand why these actions are necessary at school. It's not reasonable (that important word again) to expect the school to go to a greater length to support a disability than what is required elsewhere in that child's life. I really do understand needing a school to be free of a specific allergen (yes some parents to go as far as to try to cover or sanitize everything their kids will touch in public) but these cases really are rare. I also agree that the mouth rinsing (I'd definitely object to my kids doing this because no way is the school telling them that they have to put some substance not provided by me in their mouths just as I object to DD13 using hand sanitizer as it causes a sensory meltdown any time she uses it) is insane and well beyond the definition of reasonable.

The anger by parents over the class parties not being allowed angers me. I actually REALLY dislike parties at school. I'll admit it's partly because of the ignorance from other parents that I encountered but partly because what the heck do the parties have to do with my kids' education? Why is it necessary to pump junk food into kids in order for them to have fun? What kind of lesson is this teaching in a day and age where we're battling such an obesity problem in this country? Stop the freakin' parties!!!

 

[livvylivvie]

If a child were to die from store bought popcicles then yep - no problem, won't bring them in. Store bought cupcakes - okey dokey - won't bring them in.

There is a difference between a food allergy and a life threatening food allergy. My son is allergic to milk, but he's not going to die if Jimmy is eating a cheese sandwich beside him. He's not going to die if the class is having ice cream cones. He's not going to die if he touches it. He just can't eat it.

Like I said for ME it's a small sacrifice to make for a CHILD.

Thankyou Sugar Jones!!!

 

[delmar411]

I can answer the question of why mouth washing. Because the school is NOT peanut free. They serve PBJ in the lunchroom. And yet the child is perfectly fine.

Still think the child really has a life threatening contact allergy? I certainly don't.


And just in case you don't believe me...here's March's lunch menu

http://blackboard.volusia.k12.fl.us...waycafe/Menus Elementary/March 10-11 Elem.pdf

 

[Mama Who]

What if you have a peanut allergy and use the food bank? Are you told to eat it anyways we can't make allowances for food allergies?

If peanut butter is the ONLY thing available in your house to eat, then I think you have bigger problems than protesting about your school being peanut free.

I agree. I also think you have enough on your plate without having to run your own struggling household to suit the needs of someone else's kid.

Food banks give what they have. They cannot magically produce other food. While they attempt to accommodate the allergic, having to ask for a hand out is hard enough for a lot of folks. "Excuse me, could I have a different hand out because some kid I don't even know has an allergy so my kid can't have peanut butter for breakfast at home?" Yeah, not seeing that.

As I mentioned before, peanut butter substitutes used to sound reasonable to me, until I met someone for whom they weren't. Which disabled kid gets preference? The one whose need is handled easily and personally or the one whose need requires the participation of the entire class?

 

[Sugar Jones]

I can't argue this anymore.

I can't believe anyone feels a child's right to have a peanut butter sandwich trumps another child's right to attend school


With that I am out of here

 

[cheshireqt]

I have read several versions of this. It seems pretty clear the parents are not protesting the Peanut Butter Ban. That is a misrepresentation of the protest. The rules cited in the article, and I get the impression there have been more than just these are:
They cut peanut products from the class room earlier this year.
Then all class parties were canceled for this class, and this class only because they did not trust that no peanuts would be introduced by classmates.
Then the children were required to gargle with mouthwash 3x a day. (Once would not bother me at all, but 3 times? I can tell you right now I would get canker sores after a couple of days of that, depending on the mouthwash and how much water I was allowed to drink afterwards).
Then robust handwashing several times a day.
This amounted to the loss of 30min of instruction time to sanitize hands and BREATH of their children.
The last straw apparently was the Peanut sniffing dog. Odds are there are more kids in that school allergic to the DOG than to trace amounts of Peanuts.
I can see going Peanut and Tree Nut free in Pre-school, Kindergarten - 3rd grade. This would be classrooms, class parties, and lunch-tables for those grades. Although class parties would continue and children with any allergies would not have products containing their specific allergen. After third grade a child should be able to self regulate their intake or they need more training at home on how to do so. This is a life skill for that child and they need to learn how to do it. The rest of the world is not tree and peanut free. (nor dairy, shellfish, wheat, corn, gluten etc.)
I sympathize with the parents of this special needs child, but also with the parents who are fed up with more and more requirements. It is frankly a bit "Big Brotherish" to have to swish and gargle THREE TIMES a day and have your personal effects sniffed by a dog.

 

[MSSANDRA]

There are a lot of good thoughts on this subject....so I might as well share mine. I have a PA child and a non PA child and I am a teacher.

My feeling are that many of the precautions taken for this little girl are giving her and her parents a false sense of security. You can not have a peanut free school! It just can not happen. The preschool where I am a director and DGS attends is considered "peanut free". In reality, we have no control over what children have on their hands, clothes or breaths when they come in. Snacks often have to be replaced with safe ones. In a school setting there is NO way to regulate every food that comes in a lunch box. What about the baggie snacks without labels?? The bread that the sandwich is on?
You have parents that can not read, or at least not read English!

Hand washing 3 X a day is not a bad choice. It will cut down on the illness that spread in the room but do you really trust a 6 year old to wash well enough to remove peanut butter from under his finger nails??

Mouth washing might help in a perfect world work, but what about the normal gross little boys that get board and spit the stuff at another little boys clothes that will now have peanut particles on his shirt???

We started educating DGS (4) the day we learned of the allergy and by two he would tell you he was allergic to peanuts but I would NEVER trust him totally at 6 to hold his life in his hand. Yes, he will have to learn and we educate everyday. We also let him live in the real world, just with a little more supervision than his peers. He will attend kindergarten in our local school and I have already had some conversations with the staff and feel pretty good about things.

I guess bottom line is I am glad I do not have to set the guild-lines to try to protect this little child. If my child was in this class I would certainly comply without complaint, but would not send my child who was this allergic to this setting. I would make some other educational choice for him or her.

 

[kchughes]

I admit I have not read every post in this thread, but here is my 2 cents from a parent of a child who is highly allergic to peanuts ( full anaphylactic reaction within 30 seconds of injestion, very scary). As parents, it is our responsibility to educate him and set rules for him. No sharing foods, only eat what we send in your lunch or from the school cafeteria. Do not eat any homemade foods at a party, unless we send them. I was the first parent to say no to a peanut free class room after kindergarten. He can read, knows what he can and can not eat, knows what to do if he gets "that feeling". We cannot protect him forever and pray that we have taught him well. And as I nurse, I say the more the kids wash their hands, the better. But mouthwash 3 times per day? that is ridiculous. I can almost see the mouth rinsing first thing in the morning, in case anyone had a peanut product for breakfast, but this is a peanut free classroom, so how are any of the children going to injest peanut products in a peanut free classroom?

 

[scrapquitler]

And as I nurse, I say the more the kids wash their hands, the better. But mouthwash 3 times per day? that is ridiculous. I can almost see the mouth rinsing first thing in the morning, in case anyone had a peanut product for breakfast, but this is a peanut free classroom, so how are any of the children going to injest peanut products in a peanut free classroom?

I was wondering the same thing.

And as far as your son, it sounds to me like you handled his peanut allergy in a sensible way.

 

[wlfans]

I have a DD with a peanut allergy. I do believe the school in the article is a little over board on mouth washing. To those without a child with a food allergy. Try watching a child gasp for air in an ER. Not fun at all. This has occurred twice to us. And a residue can cause a severe reaction. Once the residue goes from hand to nose or mouth it will react with IGE in some form in some less reaction in others shock.
The stats of only 12 people die per year is grossly incorrect. More than 200 according to“Anaphylaxis in the United States,” Archives of Internal Medicine, 2001. Kids in school should learn about expose of allergies in our society. Some here have decided to go off on this one incident which is not the norm. Food borne allergies have increased greatly since the 1990's.

 

[Alice's Mommy]

I completely agree...totally and completely, lol. Approximately 12 people a year die from food allergy related issues. 12, thats it. Just 12. now yes I agree thats too many, unfortunately we live in a world where people will die. It sucks, but it happens. The schools are already doing their part. I think the parents need to be making their own arrangements if what the schools are already doing isn't enough.
Kids dying from just being around their allergen isn't typical, nor can it even be considered likely. I would think any parent who has a child with this extremely rare condition would not want to trust hundreds of people they don't know to take this type of precaution. a precaution that the average person doesn't even think about on a daily basis.

I can't help what your feelings would be on this issue if your child was one of those 12. And if you knew that there was something that could have been done to prevent that from happening. You seem to be suggesting, from your previous posts, that the parents of this child should homeschool to eliminate the risk. That doesn't seem too fair either. Why should an allergy keep a child from experiencing school when it's possible to keep the school safe enough to make that happen? The allergy isn't contagious, it's asking the staff and student body to make some changes while in the school itself, and it's totally do-able. Why is this such a big deal???

 

[livndisney]

I have a DD with a peanut allergy. I do believe the school in the article is a little over board on mouth washing. To those without a child with a food allergy. Try watching a child gasp for air in an ER. Not fun at all. This has occurred twice to us. And a residue can cause a severe reaction. Once the residue goes from hand to nose or mouth it will react with IGE in some form in some less reaction in others shock.
The stats of only 12 people die per year is grossly incorrect. More than 200 according to“Anaphylaxis in the United States,” Archives of Internal Medicine, 2001. Kids in school should learn about expose of allergies in our society. Some here have decided to go off on this one incident which is not the norm. Food borne allergies have increased greatly since the 1990's.

According to this TIME article from 2009

"Given all the attention paid in recent years to food allergies, the number of people in the U.S. who die from them — 15 to 20 a year — is relatively small. More people die each year from bee stings. "But we don't remove flowers from schools or playgrounds," Dr. Nicholas Christakis, a professor of medical sociology at Harvard Medical School, commented recently in the British Medical Journal. When asked about his editorial, which he wrote after his son's school bus had to be evacuated because someone spotted a peanut on board, he said, "We should be having a sober-minded, public-health debate, and instead the overresponse to food allergies is preposterous."

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1881985,00.html#ixzz1GpHUtCnS


And

"A call to the CDC press office revealed that the number of deaths from food allergies, as collected from 2.5 million death certificates across the country, is miniscule. Only eleven people died from food allergies in 2005, the last year for which we have data available. More people died from lawnmower accidents."


With the additional quotes-
"It's time for journalists and doctors to stop using FAAN's exaggerated statistic."

"The time has come to stop using FAAN's wildly exaggerated estimate of food allergy deaths. Food allergies are real, and certainly deserve respect and research, but stretching the truth about food allergy deaths creates unnecessary anxiety and fear for everyone. Especially those of us with food allergies."



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/meredith-broussard/food-allergy-deaths-less_b_151462.html

 

[Leajess99]

I did post in the other threat on the CB. After reading the article and the comments I was a little lost on what the 'actual' facts were. A little girl with a rare (only 2% of the population has such a severe peanut allergy) allergy is being sent to school, accomodations are being made that can not keep her 100% safe yet if the comments are correct is finding a way to live her life outside easily...going to WDW, Chuck E Cheese etc. We all know that Chuck E Cheese can not make enough accomodations in the world to keep her safe. I got the impression this little girl is just not allergic to INGESTED peanut products but contact. That is huge in my book.

I just know as a parent, I wouldn't protest with the others at the school. Would I protest at the school board, probably. My grandd, due to her religion, does not celebrate holidays. Holiday parties have not been banned in her classroom to accomodate her, she goes to the library during those times. Not sure why the kids can't have a party in a different part of the bldg and little girl go to a safe zone if they do it for the religious factor.

I, also as a parent, would never send one of my children with a rare allergy to the school environment and expect every one to accomodate her to the point I/my child is intruding on the rights of others. Really honestly wouldn't. Gosh, her parents have to work. I am sure there are other working parents in the school too. Parents should be working different shifts if working is mandatory for them. Honestly, there is not a moment my kid would be sitting in a classroom. I wouldn't even be able to work worrying about what is going on in school.

Her reasonable accomodations are being met in other ways. She is entitled to a free public education, but an in home tutor is classified as free public education just not in the class room setting.

So, in the end, I disagree with a lot and agree with a lot but I am not sure I/we are getting factual information from the articles if the comments section is true.

Kelly

As far as tha bolded, my kids classes celebrated Spring or Winter or Fall instead of Holidays so that it did not interfere with anyone's religious beliefs.

As far as the tutor goes, again it puts this family needing to someone to provide care for their child during the day. Why should this child be shunned for having an allergy?? I just do not understand why so many are so insensitive to the needs of others.



As for the comments, how does anyone know that those are truthful and not being posted by these protesting parents as more of an attempt to incite other parents into their fight??

 

[Leajess99]

It might seem like a big deal to YOU, but to me it isn't. If something small like making a school peanut free or shellfish free will enable a child to attend regular school then it's perfectly fine with ME. I am willing to make the small sacrifice and not cry about it or cry about the atrocities of my child not being able to eat peanut butter or shrimp for lunch.

The funny thing is that no one knows when they may have an allergic reaction to a food themself. The preschool teacher my sister is friend's with recently had an allergic reaction to peanuts. She was suprised by it and the doctor reminded her that you can react to something you have never been allergic to before.