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Not only were there fewer allergies, less food was consumed in school buildings. Breakfast wasn't served. Kids didn't have snacks. At that point, it was common for urban students to go home for lunch. The combination of fewer allergies and fewer opportunities made the issue pretty much non-existent.
I went to school in the 1950's and most kids ate at school. They just brought their own instead of being provided one. Most kids ate PBJ or baloney. Elementary school kids didnt leave school. For the most part neither did high schoolers. Peanuts were readily available at school in those red, white and blue bags. 10 cents per bag.
Unfortunately I remember hundreds of kids keeling over due to the presence of peanuts. Well, maybe dozens..... Actually perhaps a few... Well in reality there were none.
FARE says 200 people in the US die from anaphylaxis caused by food allergic reactions every year. Teens and young adults are at the greatest risk, because they're more likely to take risks with food and less likely to carry their epi-pens. https://www.foodallergy.org/facts-and-stats
20 to 25 percent of epinephrine administered in schools is given to kids with a previously undiagnosed allergy.
I have questions about a couple of issues...somebody please educate me.
For parents with younger children (say <8 years) with potentially anaphylactic reactions to peanuts (or anything else) requiring treatment with an Epi-Pen, who is responsible for administering that in a school setting? Can your child do it? Are the teachers trained and willing to do it? It this a reasonable component of a teacher's job description? How has the school responded to this issue? What about the liability if it's done improperly and the child has a complication or doesn't receive the dose properly?
Does anyone have children with severe Latex allergies? Latex is ubiquitous...rubber bands, balloons, shoes, paint, and many other things in a classroom contain Latex. How is this managed in your school?
TIA for any enlightenment.
My daughter had an epi pen for a fire ant allergy in kindergarten. The school nurse stored the epi pen and had the allergy plan. If my daughter needed epi, she would have administered it. The teacher was supposed to be responsible for carrying the epi pens and administering if necessary during field trips. My daughter didn't get to go on her field trips because the teacher didn't understand the symptoms to look for, how to use the pen, or the fact that she would have to call 911 after administering it, even though we took the training pen to her and explained multiple times.
I believe latex allergy is more common among adults than children, except for children with spina bifida and children of healthcare workers. I know several teachers who have latex allergies and it causes problems for them at work, often when balloons are brought in.
Let's be honest here. The amount of children with an allergy to peanuts so severe is infinitesimal. According to the CDC, 13 deaths between 1996 and 2006 were attributed to peanut allergies. Thirteen.
You do realize, of course, that the early 1990s are when these peanut bans first started in schools. That could account for the small number of deaths; there's no way of knowing.
So, in order to say that the amount of deaths from peanut allergies is infinitesimal, what we'd really need is data from before schools and other places started banning peanut products.
Now, that might be interesting -- compare before and after to see if the increased awareness of this issue has affected death rates.
In any case, that still wouldn't prove that the number of children with peanut allergies is infinitesimal.
The number of deaths from a disease is NOT necessarily the same as the number of people who HAVE it. Think of cancer: there are X number of people who die from breast cancer every year, but many more who have breast cancer but don't die in the same time period. But they are all afflicted with breast cancer.
So, to measure whether peanut allergies are truly affecting an infinitesimal percentage of school aged children, we'd need to get the data on how many children have been DIAGNOSED by doctors with peanut allergies.
Does the CDC have that data? They must. Otherwise, my hunch is that schools and other public arenas would not take this so seriously.
Just for clarity, the use of a classroom or school ban, peanut free tables, etc are parts of an allergen plan that school officials make after looking at the needs (as shown by medical evidence) of all of the allergic kids in the school. One parent does not get to decide what type of ban if any will be in place. It is unlikely that any parent, even one whose child is allergic to nuts, would know exactly who is and is not allergic besides their child, the facility issues, and a whole host of other things the school has to weigh.
As your your concern about imaginary allergies, this is why school require the child's doctors recommendations as part of the allergen plan. Unless you think the doctors are imagining the severity as well?
Private (not public) preschool. They created a peanut free table for the child. The entire school was not made peanut free. The child's mother educated us about the allergy, she had no desire to make the entire school peanut free. The way she explained it, and I can only go by what she (the mother of a severely allergic child) said, was it was next to impossible to insist on a totally peanut free environment since kids might have other foods with them that could contain peanuts...foods processed in places that are not peanut free, kids around who might have had peanut butter with breakfast...on and on. They had an epipen available for the child. Does that make me happy? No! But the way the mother explained it to us was that attempting to make an entire school peanut free creates a false sense of security and she didn't want to do that.
I have questions about a couple of issues...somebody please educate me.
For parents with younger children (say <8 years) with potentially anaphylactic reactions to peanuts (or anything else) requiring treatment with an Epi-Pen, who is responsible for administering that in a school setting? Can your child do it? Are the teachers trained and willing to do it? It this a reasonable component of a teacher's job description? How has the school responded to this issue? What about the liability if it's done improperly and the child has a complication or doesn't receive the dose properly?
Does anyone have children with severe Latex allergies? Latex is ubiquitous...rubber bands, balloons, shoes, paint, and many other things in a classroom contain Latex. How is this managed in your school?
TIA for any enlightenment.
We homeschool but my daughter was diagnosed at age 5. Her doctor trained her, my 7-year-old son, and me on how to do it. She got a trainer (with no needle) to practice with and to show other people who might care for her what to do. It's very simple and designed so a five-year-old could do it. Now, that said, she was five. An adult always carried it and knew what to do. Thankfully, we've never had to use it. She went to school for one year and the school nurse trained her teachers how to use it. It was part of her safety plan. Aside from being asked to label any shellfish-containing foods during the potluck celebrations, the othercparents weren't involved at all. They didn't know who the allergic child was or what her safety plan entailed.
When she was 10/11, she started having it in her bag when we left the house and if she went to a friend's house. And now at 14, she's responsible for it. However, even though she's a teen, I still mention it to her friends' parents, the youth group leadership, etc, and show them how to use it. Someone in anaphylaxis can pass out and be unable to administer the medication. Because allergies are so common, many already know how to use them. Also, I trust that if she were in a public place without me and had a reaction, someone would likely know to look for her epi-pen if she had a reaction and wasn't able to self-administer.
There is no option for a school to decide not to treat a life-or-death emergency, which anaphylaxis is, so it really doesn't matter if they want the liability or not. Not treating is likely to end in death. Treating too soon (child not actually in anaphylaxis) results in temporary tachycardia and some shaking... not going to kill the child. There are two injectors in every pack so if one doesn't work/isn't used correctly, there's a spare. And it's all very simple. Take off the cap, push hard into the outer thigh. That's it. The biggest part of training is keeping your fingers out of the way and knowing to call 911 immediately.
If ANY of you have a child or loved young one with peanut allergies, you totally understand the fear of the child being exposed to peanuts.
It is like sending them to school with a classroom that allows guns. Education isn't enough to keep them safe. Elimination of the allergen is the best way to protect them.
As I said, I do have a friend who's daughter is highly allergic to peanuts. If you think I don't understand the fear or concern, you are completely wrong.
As an aside, her mother is not in favor of total bans on peanuts in schools.
I have no problem not sending peanut butter to school with my daughter if it means not putting another child in danger. Don't see the problem.
Nor do I, but only if asked politely and with the understanding that no is a reasonable answer also. It's when the demands are by those who feel entitled are made for others to change their legit behaviors, for entire facilities modified to accommodate what are personal problem, that problems are going to occur.
There's a situation in a townhouse community in our area where a long time resident took great pleasure in feeding birds and squirrels in his backyard, and would put out piles of peanuts for the wildlife. A family of renters with two allegedly peanut-sensitive children moved in next door and demanded (not asked but demanded loudly, and on TV) that he stop doing it. That's right, they were dictating what he could and couldn't do on his own property. Who's right here? Had that been my home, I'd respond by buying peanuts by the truckload and scatter them right up to the property line. If asked nicely, I might consider changing the squirrels diet but promise nothing.
To the anti-nutters - it's your issue to deal with. Schools go along only because of the potential legal problems you'll cause, not because of any belief in your questionable demands. The rest of us for the most part don't give a s**t about your snowflakes. It's your problem, not ours. The actual danger is probably negligible. The world is not peanut free and isn't going to change based on your claims.
I'm headed out to fill the birdfeeder and throw about some peanuts for my local squirrels...
At someone's house, on their private property, they can do whatever they want with their peanuts. You can also feed nuts to the squirrels at the park, as long as it's not against the law (many parks have rules against feeding the wildlife).
In school, where kids are legally protected, people have to follow the rules of the school or choose a different school if they don't want their Precious Snowflake's peanut butter sandwich taken away. It doesn't matter if you think you weren't asked politely enough. If you don't like it -- it's your problem to deal with.
My daughter had an epi pen for a fire ant allergy in kindergarten. The school nurse stored the epi pen and had the allergy plan. If my daughter needed epi, she would have administered it. The teacher was supposed to be responsible for carrying the epi pens and administering if necessary during field trips. My daughter didn't get to go on her field trips because the teacher didn't understand the symptoms to look for, how to use the pen, or the fact that she would have to call 911 after administering it, even though we took the training pen to her and explained multiple times.
I believe latex allergy is more common among adults than children, except for children with spina bifida and children of healthcare workers. I know several teachers who have latex allergies and it causes problems for them at work, often when balloons are brought in.
That's sad that your dd didn't get to go on field trips. At the school where I work, every teacher must be certified and trained in CPR and First Aid, including use of Epi Pens.
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