To go with the Peanut Butter thread: Do you think that PBJs should be banned...

[cinderella73]

None of my children have any food allergies but I truly appreciate the danger. It would be an inconvenience if our school banned pb since that is what DD8 brings to school almost every day. If there was a child with a severe allergy I would be completely fine if it was banned. I think it is the saddest thing to see a child forced to sit alone or at a special table b/c of an allergy. Food allergies are legally a disability (atleast in our state) and these children have the right to a safe school environment. I am willing to be inconvenienced to protect a child's life.

Thanks you so much from the bottom of my heart! What you said literally brought tears to my eye's ! Thank you for being so caring!

I think it would be a great idea if the child had certain good friends or even if the teacher sent home letters asking for parents to maybe pick a a day a week where they would pack a peanut free lunch for their kids so they could sit with the child that has the allergy at a special table. ( explaining also how to check labels etc) The child would never have to feel alone and outcasted.

 

[chobie]

None of my children have any food allergies but I truly appreciate the danger. It would be an inconvenience if our school banned pb since that is what DD8 brings to school almost every day. If there was a child with a severe allergy I would be completely fine if it was banned. I think it is the saddest thing to see a child forced to sit alone or at a special table b/c of an allergy. Food allergies are legally a disability (atleast in our state) and these children have the right to a safe school environment. I am willing to be inconvenienced to protect a child's life.

I agree. No child will die because they can't have peanut butter.

 

[mjantz]

I've wondered a few times about the legality/fairness/whatever you want to call it of having peanut/allergy 'magnet' schools. I do know of a few small rural school districts that transfer (daily) students with severe special needs to a county-centralized location & I believe this has been ruled OK.
It wouldn't have to be only for kids with allergies as long as other parents were able to follow the rules. I honestly wouldn't see this as a punishment or a shunning. I see it like I see the allergy camp my brother went to growing up. Its a way for them to have fun, learn & be around other kids in an environment more tailored for their needs.

Someone might come down hard on me about this but I have thought about it at times.

 

[ksumn1]

My little cousin who is 4 had a dairy and egg allergy. She never ate alot of sweets and rarely had ice cream, but every year at my DD's bday party we noticed she would have a rash around her mouth after she ate. She never complained of any other problems so her Mom and Dad weren't too concerned. At DD's 3rd birthday party, she broke out in a horrible rash on her mouth, face, hands, and legs after she spilled her ice cream. She told her Mom her throat hurt, and started wheezing. Luckily, my Aunt is a nurse for the county Helath Department and figured out that she was having some type of allergic reation. Either dairy, egg, or flour since we only served cake and ice cream and juice. Took her to the DR that same day and had her tested and she was positive. Luckily, her reaction wasn't worse. But it still scared the c**p out of ne, I thought the poor thing was going to stop breathing.

I think if school administrators could see how quickly a reaction can occur, and how strong it can be, they would take more precautions. Emphasize handwashing, and wipe all the tables down berore the class leaves the lunchroom. I think that pb is OK, as long as there are no children with a known allergy. If there is a child with this allergy, extra steps should be taken to accomodate that child. A peanut free table or reducing the amount of times pb is served. Also, I think it would be a nice thing to ask for a volunteer to bring their lunch so the child wouldn't have to sit alone. That image just sounds so sad. I imagine my little cousin will have to take her lunch every day, and since her allergy is so severe now, she may be seperated as well. Her school (she starts PreK this year) is allowing her to keep her Epi pen with her in her desk and in PE, Art, etc the teacher will keep it.

 

[TinkerbellMama]

But what about if a different child is allergic to milk? eggs? etc? Is all that going to be banned too? I have very strong opinions on this subject.

Some of these children can be asphyxiated very quickly by airborne exposure to peanuts, though. That is not something I've heard of with dairy or eggs, and no one in my family consumes dairy so I am fairly familiar with those allergies. My son could (and usually does) sit next to an entire roomful of people eating dairy and it won't affect him one bit. I can watch you polish off an entire pizza and finish with a huge bowl of ice cream and nothing will happen to me, but if I ate one slice of the pizza I'd be in world of hurt. There are people who could NOT sit next to someone eating peanut butter without having a life-threatening reaction, though. And, especially with children, it is very hard to predict the severity of the next attack (or even whether there will be a first one for a child not known to have a peanut allergy). Think about it...there ARE kids who could be killed by peanuts in their schools--yet people complain about having to pack something else for their non-allergic kids. Its really not the same thing as a dairy allergy (which in most cases is not a true allergy, but a lactose intolerance) at all.

 

[KelsiesMommy]

You can use soybean butter or cashew butter in place of peanut butter- in fact, my kids, while they don't have a peanut allergy, have never had peanut butter. We use Soybean butter and they call it PB&J

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

In our school district, if one child in the building has a peanut allergy, then peanuts and peanut products are banned from the premises. There are signs on the entrances stating that no peanut products are allowed in the building. I'm not sure if it is the same way in the JR High and High School, but it is that way in the elementary schools.

While it does eliminate a couple of lunch options for us, it does not bother me. I'm just so grateful my kids do not have food allergies.

 

[Clutterbug]

I think I can see what you are trying to say . At one point I might have agreed. But looking at my childs face I can truly say that anything that can decrease a risk and save a childs life is worth the minor inconvience of others.

It may not remove all the danger . But that doesnt mean we shouldnt try to help make it LESS dangerous.

I absolutely agree with this. My DD is one of those picky eaters that has to have PB&J every day. So far, allergies in her school have not been a problem, but if they change that tomorrow, I would gladly comply.

Cheese and crackers, pitas with veggies and turkey rollups cut into pinwheels have been some PB&J alternatives that have been successful with DD.

 

[Stimpy]

I have to agree. A child's life is much more important than my own convenience or my own child's preference for lunch. I know it can be difficult, my son is a horribly picky eater! For lunch he'll eat only about 2-3 different things. IF he wanted PB&J, he can have it on weekends and other non-school days.

 

[mickeylove2]

On the epi-pen: I wouldn't count on anyone, especially a kindergartener, knowing how to self-administer in the event of an emergency. Children (and even many adults) aren't always self-aware enough to recognize an anaphylactic reaction, much less be able to whip into action and give themselves a shot. It's one thing to train with the device when you're feeling fine, but quite another reality sets in when something really goes wrong. I would hope any school district that has students who require epi-pens makes sure all teachers and staff who come in contact with kids are trained to recognize a severe allergic reaction and are prepared to administer an epi-pen.


I completely agree about the epi-pen, my husband is allergic to bee stings and there's no way he would be able to administer the injection himself, let alone a 5 year old! Also I think there was a comment that the kindergartener has the epi-pen on them, I'm assuming in school, I would like to know how that's even allowed, my DD has asthma and she cannot carry her inhaler, it has to stay with the school nurse or principal.

Anyway I wanted to post because I feel that public schools schools are doing the right thing by trying to keep peanuts out. My 9 year old cousin died in the cafeteria of his school because another student was eating a PB&J uncrustable 7, yes 7 table lenghts away from him! By the time the nurse got to the cafeteria it was too late. So I have a few choice words for those who think that their child is put out for not being allowed to bring PB&J to school...get over it! (I'm not saying that about anyone on here, in my daughters' school there are parents that feel this way and it makes me ill!) I always tell them, if their child was allergic to bee stings, would it be fair for another child to bring in a bee hive for show and tell and just hope that the allergic child doesn't get stung?!? yes, it may be rare to have a child be so serverly allergic to PB that they can smell it and die from the reaction, but it happened to my family so I know it's possible! Sorry to rant.

 

[mrs.beast]

it is our school /district where kids can carry their epi pens. it is due to the fact that reactions can occur so quickly and that if the child has a reaction when they are not near their teacher/nurse they could die before the pen got there. on a 12 acre campus, the nurse and classrooms are far away during PE and out at recess. it takes 4 minutes to walk from the office to the farthest classroom and about 3-4 longer to the end of the field. if a child had a reaction it would be at least a 10 minute round trip to get the pen, which does not leave enough time to administer the meds. it is not required by the school that the kids carry the pens, but allowed if the parents request it. as a teacher i prefer it. the kids who have the allergies are responsible with their pens and never let the other kids look/touch them. they know how serious the situation is. also, every adult on campus knows how to administer the med, so if the child needs it, the closest adult can grab it out of the fanny pack and administer it.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

In response to Mrs. Beast-I guess it depends on your school district. My oldest has asthma and is allowed to carry his inhaler and has been allowed to do so since elementary school (he is now in high school). The only requirement for our schools is that the doctor sign a form that the nurse gives out saying it is necessary for the child to carry whatever medication they need. While this doesn't solve all problems, I don't see why all schools wouldn't allow a child to carry any necessary medication.

 

[deedeetoo]

I'm a bit surprised by this discussion. Not because I have a problem with limiting pb&j in schools but just because I didn't know how widespread this was. My kids have never had a restriction on peanut butter for snacks or lunches. I don't know if there are no kids at my children's schools with peanut allergy (seems unlikely) or if they have some other way of handling it. In fact the cafeteria serves pb&j sandwiches every day as one of the selections in case the kids don't like the hot meal. From this discussion it seems we may be the only ones left with no restrictions.

 

[Hannathy]

No you aren't the only ones left. I live in a very large school district and we have no restrictions. Our cafet. serve PB&J every day also. My son's elem. school has over 600 kids and they have no restrictions. A boy in my DD's class was allergic and there were no restrictions in place. He just didn't eat treats brought in unless he was sure.

 

[noahcarter]

I am also in agreement on banning it in schools. My oldest son is 4 and has multiple food allergies with peanut being the most severe. In fact we were just on an airplane last week where they were serving peanuts as a snack. My son was sleeping and ended up having an asthma attack when the peanuts were served. No one in his row was eating them but the people in front of him and behind him were. I was just thankful I had his inhaler with us and that it did not become anaphlyaxis.

We have served soy nut butter to several friends who like pbj sandwiches and they have never noticed the difference! I also really like sunflower butter as a substitute.

 

[disneyandme]

The bans of certain foods are really for the education of the adults and not the children. Most kids are fine with them-- unless egged on by an adult to think otherwise. Children, even at a very young age, can understand that certain foods can make their friends very sick and even kill them. It's the sense of entitlement that adult have that causes a lot of the problems. There is no need to have certain foods at lunch, there is no need to do certain food projects at school, and there is no need to have food at every event. Kids really do fine without it.

 

[disneyandme]

I need to revise slightly-- there are special need kids out there who may need certain food in order to live and exceptions should be made in those circumstances.

 

[dijid]

I'm not in favor of banning PB. I think it can lull parents into a false sense of security. Instead, I think it's important to teach all the kids proper handwashing, etc. I know from personal experience that not all parents of kids with severe peanut allergies are as dilligent as those on these boards. I ran an after school program that provided snacks. I had one mother send me a *huge* list of ingredients that her son was allergic to. He had a severe peanut allergy and carried an epi pen. If my child had those allergies (and the boy was 8) I would have provided snacks for him. But this mother handed over the list and her involvement was done. So we had lots and lots of rice krispie treats.

And for the poster who wondered why her kid couldn't carry an inhaler: You need to fight the school on that one. Point out how quickly an attack can happen and how fast they need treatment. What if they're on the bus and it's still 20 minutes til they're at school? Our asthma/allergy dr. works with his patients when they turn 5 so that they can start managing their own asthma, which includes knowing when they need the inhaler and administrating it themselves. It's so they can carry it with them at school.

 

[MomNeedsVacay]

I'm against a ban on PB, but that is simply b/c my children have no allergies. I'm sure I would be for it if the shoe was on the other foot.

WHY does it seem like these peanut allergies are so prevalent today? When I was a kid, 25 years ago, I never heard of kids having reactions to peanuts, let alone dying from them...... Why is it happening so much today?

 

[girlsx4]

I wouldn't be for a peanut ban. Just not fair for the kids that don't have allergies. Our schools serve PB&J as an alternative to the regular lunch. My girls have been in classes where there is a peanut allergy and they send home a letter for specific snacks that can be brought it, but that's it.