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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.
Bee stings can kill a child. About 100 people die of bee stings every year. Would you support a ban on outside activities for all children because some children have bee stings and could theoretically die from a sting? Why or why not?
I don't think parents of allergy kids are doing anything wrong or being neglectful but I do think these bans create a false sense of security and do not teach children how to use what their parents teach them on their own.
People don't purposely put bees in their mouths. We generally avoid interacting with bees in general because bee stings hurt, even if you aren't allergic. That is not a fair comparison.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Magritte25
Would you agree to a ban on all activities that can present some students with death? Why or why not?
OK, this thread just jumped the shark.
No, and here's why. Anything can kill you. A baseball could hit you in the head, but we don't go around purposely throwing baseballs at each other. Car crashes can kill you, but we generally try not to crash them into things. I already gave the bee example.
Peanuts are an ingredient in food that we purposely put onto our mouths. The whole point of a cookie is to be eaten. Some allergies are so severe, it wouldn't even have to be eaten to cause a problem.
I don't think there is any sense of security for the parent of a kid with a severe allergy.
But how does removing a common allergen that the child will and does come into contact with every day - school, mall, movies, library, train, etc. - teach the child how to cope with it in every day life?
Why do you assume that parents aren't teaching them? As you say they will come into contact with it other places. Why would excluding it from school mean parents aren't teaching?
How old are kids when they go to school?
How old are kids when they go to the mall, movie, library without a parent?
People don't purposely put bees in their mouths. We generally avoid interacting with bees in general because bee stings hurt, even if you aren't allergic. That is not a fair comparison.
People don't purposely step on or sit on bees either but it happens. I do think its a fair comparison because the vast majority of people don't die from stings. Allergic people can and do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kibbiekat
OK, this thread just jumped the shark.
No, and here's why. Anything can kill you. A baseball could hit you in the head, but we don't go around purposely throwing baseballs at each other. Car crashes can kill you, but we generally try not to crash them into things. I already gave the bee example.
Peanuts are an ingredient in food that we purposely put onto our mouths. The whole point of a cookie is to be eaten. Some allergies are so severe, it wouldn't even have to be eaten to cause a problem.
I don't think there is any sense of security for the parent of a kid with a severe allergy.
I asked the question in a sincere manner so there is no reason for your attack on my posting style or thoughts. If either offend you so much, may I suggest placing me on ignore. I've not said or done anything to warrant such a reaction from you.
Why do you assume that parents aren't teaching them? As you say they will come into contact with it other places. Why would excluding it from school mean parents aren't teaching?
How old are kids when they go to school?
How old are kids when they go to the mall, movie, library without a parent?
The point is that these children, as with children with other health issues, need to be taught for themselves how to deal with their health. Its not a matter of going to any of the above with or without a parent. The point is that children should be able to and should be empowered to take control of their own bodies.
The point is that these children, as with children with other health issues, need to be taught for themselves how to deal with their health. Its not a matter of going to any of the above with or without a parent. The point is that children should be able to and should be empowered to take control of their own bodies.
Again, they are. I'll ask you again, why do you assume they aren't being taught?
Are you seriously so butt-hurt about this that you are advocating for putting allergic kids into a dangerous environment, just so they'll learn to deal with it? Maybe we should release bees into the classroom too see how the bee allergic kid deals with it.
But how does removing a common allergen that the child will and does come into contact with every day - school, mall, movies, library, train, etc. - teach the child how to cope with it in every day life?
Young children are generally not alone at the mall, movies, library, or train. They are with an adult whose job it is to carefully supervise and care for them. In a school setting, kids as young as 3 years old are in a group of up to 25 children being supervised by one adult. There is a HUGE difference between going to a movie with mom and going to school as far as the supervision the child receives.
My daughter was diagnosed with a shellfish allergy at age 5. I was so very thankful that it wasn't peanuts! Some children will literally go into anaphylactic shock if they smell peanut butter. I'm not sure how you could live with yourself if you knew that a classmate of your child had this type of reaction and you sent your own kid to school with peanut butter anyway. The reason more kids don't die of anaphylaxis is because of the precautions. Peanut-free classrooms, peanut-free tables in the cafeteria, epi-pens, and training for teachers to administer emergency meds. It's not because peanut allergies are no big deal.
As for my kid, we homeschool anyway, so school was not an issue. Plus who really sends their kid to school with shrimp? Not very many. She did spend one year (5th grade) at a charter school, however. There was an epi-pen with her teacher and one at the nurse's office. I think around the halfway point, she started carrying her own as well. I don't remember exactly. Her allergy was included on the notices that went out to the class when we had potluck lunches (for Thanksgiving and one at the end of the year). Again, crustacean shellfish is not a common ingredient in foods that elementary school children eat, but it was still taken seriously.
I'm not really sure what the issue is. Why can't you just send something else in for your kid? If the boy with the perfume allergy would literally DIE if he smelled it, don't you think it would be banned from the classroom? Would you purposely send your child in covered in cologne? I'm thinking not. Why would you not want to do what you could to keep a young classmate of your child's safe? If you were the parent of a kid in my daughter's class, would you send in crabcakes on Thanksgiving just because you didn't like being asked to refrain from using shellfish?
People don't purposely step on or sit on bees either but it happens. I do think its a fair comparison because the vast majority of people don't die from stings. Allergic people can and do.
It's a risk reward situation. It's worth the risk to let kids play outside because the reward greatly outweighs the risk by a huge margin. On the other hand, there are so many alternatives to peanut products that it does make sense to ban peanuts in the classroom of a child who could die if they came into contact with peanuts. There's no real loss to the students who can't eat peanuts for 7 hours a day, 5 days a week while reducing the risk in the place where the allergic child who is at risk of death spends the majority of their day when away from home (which is also presumably peanut free).
My kids and I LOVE peanut butter and peanuts in general but I know they'd be ok with not having them at school if they had a classmate who was at risk of dying if they touched their sandwich. It's not a big deal.
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OK, this thread just jumped the shark. 
That post was clarifying "peanut-free" for a parent with kids who are younger than school age.
