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One problem is that while even young children can be responsible for their own medical needs, other children can't be. After working lunch in a school for a year I think it should be banned in preschool and Kindergarten. The kids who have a life threatening peanut allergy are careful but the 3-5 year olds they share space with are not. And half of the adults aren't either. The immature kids still do things like stick their hands in another kids mouth, put food in other kids mouths and don't wash their hands properly. It doesn't even occur to some of them to wipe their mouths much less wash the food off their faces after eating.
There was a peanut free table at the Kindergarten I worked in. The children who had to sit at that table were supposed to be allowed to invite a friend to sit with them if there was room. That was what the parents were told anyway. In reality it was full of kids without allergies and they were not "careful" about what was in their lunch. Several times I had to move kids to make room for a child with an actual peanut allergy. Several times I had to take a child and their PB&J sandwich away from that table. The same cloths were used to clean all tables. I asked the principal if the food being sold in the cafeteria was peanut free and she responded that she had no idea. That it was the responsibility of the parents to know that if they were letting their children buy lunch. Except she was allowing students who bought lunch to sit at the peanut free table. The parents of the "allergy kids" and the "allergy kids" could be as careful as could be and they still cannot control the stupidity and carelessness of those around them.
I wish I could still be shocked by the ignorance and selfishness I've seen in this thread.
I'm not ignorant on this subject. I've debated it numerous times throughout the years - on the side of banning peanut products. After reading quite a few eye opening articles and suggestions from experts my opinion is now more middle of the road. I'm certainly not standing at the door of my kids' school with an open jar of peanut butter just waiting for the next little allergy sufferer to come near enough to sniff it, okay? People ARE allowed to disagree and discuss things without (a) personally attacking others or (b) still having empathy for a person with an issue even if you don't agree with how said issue is handled by a school.
I still haven't seen much of a defense of how schools (mis)handle allergies of other sorts. I find that interesting. Is death the only guideline to banning a product schoolwide? Even if other allergies can cause a student to lose focus and concentration in class? Become incredibly uncomfortable, itching, sneezy and generally out of it?
I'm not ignorant on this subject. I've debated it numerous times throughout the years - on the side of banning peanut products. After reading quite a few eye opening articles and suggestions from experts my opinion is now more middle of the road. I'm certainly not standing at the door of my kids' school with an open jar of peanut butter just waiting for the next little allergy sufferer to come near enough to sniff it, okay? People ARE allowed to disagree and discuss things without (a) personally attacking others or (b) still having empathy for a person with an issue even if you don't agree with how said issue is handled by a school.
I still haven't seen much of a defense of how schools (mis)handle allergies of other sorts. I find that interesting. Is death the only guideline to banning a product schoolwide? Even if other allergies can cause a student to lose focus and concentration in class? Become incredibly uncomfortable, itching, sneezy and generally out of it?
Don't you think death is more serious than itching and sneezing?
I'm not ignorant on this subject. I've debated it numerous times throughout the years - on the side of banning peanut products. After reading quite a few eye opening articles and suggestions from experts my opinion is now more middle of the road. I'm certainly not standing at the door of my kids' school with an open jar of peanut butter just waiting for the next little allergy sufferer to come near enough to sniff it, okay? People ARE allowed to disagree and discuss things without (a) personally attacking others or (b) still having empathy for a person with an issue even if you don't agree with how said issue is handled by a school.
I still haven't seen much of a defense of how schools (mis)handle allergies of other sorts. I find that interesting. Is death the only guideline to banning a product schoolwide? Even if other allergies can cause a student to lose focus and concentration in class? Become incredibly uncomfortable, itching, sneezy and generally out of it?
You can see from this thread that people don't think they should ban something that could kill a child, why in the world do you think they would be jumping at the chance to ban something that only causes discomfort?
It's already been said on here that if someone approached the school about a perfume allergy or something along those lines, the school would more than likely try to accommodate the student.
If a child has a contact allergy, then that school should ban the allergen. I have never heard of a life-threatening contact allergy to anything other than nuts.
I am a teacher and a parent (although none of my kids have allergies). And I am absolutely infuriated when parents blatantly disregard a ban on nuts in my classroom (during those years when I have an allergy). It teaches your children that it's OK to ignore the rules. It teaches them that we don't need to be considerate of other children. And it could literally kill someone. It's really not any harder to pack a ham and cheese sandwich than it it so pack a PB & J. It's also just as easy to toss a bag of Goldfish crackers into a back pack as it is to throw in a PB granola bar.
Honestly, I wish my school would jut go nut free.
Yes, people are allergic to all kinds of things - dairy, wheat, pollen, perfumes, etc. The difference is that those people won't die from just being in the same room as those things. So you can't compare the two.
I really don't care if my kids cant bring nuts to school.
Also ive noticed dogs are allowed in all sorts of places particularly to accommodate handicapped people. Plenty of people have dog allergies and this is rarely addressed.
I really don't care if my kids cant bring nuts to school.
Also ive noticed dogs are allowed in all sorts of places particularly to accommodate handicapped people. Plenty of people have dog allergies and this is rarely addressed.
Again, I don't know anyone with a dog allergy who will die if they are in the same room. Some people with nut allergies absolutely can. I'm sure if a child has a service dog, and another child has an allergy, the school would accommodate them by putting them in separate classes. But even if they passed each other in the hall, I doubt the child with the allergy will go into anaphylactic shock.
You might want my kid to put away his peanut butter because your kid is allergic. But let's say my kid is unpopular and your kid hangs out with the cool kids and won't give my kid the time of the time of day and maybe even bullies my child. Are you going to accommodate by asking your kid to accommodate my kid so he isn't miserable and doesn't hate going to school because he's not popular? Probably not. So at the end of the day maybe this is why not all parents care that little johnny has a peanut allergy. Little johnny isnt going to die from peanuts he isnt eating so stop exaggerating.
Nut allergies are a life threatening medical condition no matter what you seem to think but being unpopular is not. But since you bring it up, schools also have anti bullying policies that are getting more and more extensive all the time. They may not be 100% effective the same way a nut ban is not 100% effective, but they are certainly geared towards making sure no child is miserable in school.
Btw, a kindergartener in Australia died when a parent (who rolled their eyes at the ban at their local school), gave a peanut butter sandwich to their own child despite the nut ban This child who died,did not eat peanut butter but simply injested oils from peanuts.
This is the scenario that explains why nut bans exist. Five year old Bobby has a yummy pb&j for lunch, doesn't wash his hands, and touches things transferring the oils all over the school. Then Robby who is also 5 years old, touches those surfaces, and then transfers those oils to himself and dies. Nut bans are nothing more or less ban another, simple layer of protection. Assuming a hole parents follow the school rules.
I really don't care if my kids cant bring nuts to school.
Also ive noticed dogs are allowed in all sorts of places particularly to accommodate handicapped people. Plenty of people have dog allergies and this is rarely addressed.
You keep comparing non life threatening allergies to ones that cause anaphylaxis.
You also keep comparing them to allergies who mode of exposure is different.
Let's compare some apples to oranges as least. Milk allergy is life threatening, kids die from it (unlike dog allergies) but it is not typically banned in schools because drinking milk, getting it on your hands, and then touching something is not going to lead to a potential exposure. That is not true of peanuts due to the fact that the allergen (a protein) is found in the oil. Oils can persist on the hands or surfaces for literally hours, compared to things like milk which dry up and denature the proteins in a few minutes.
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