Peanut Allergy issue - is this going too far in your opinion?

[joksten2000]

They just had a child die in our area for kissing a boy that had a pb sandwich. If there was anything I could do to save a life I'd do it. Beware you may have a child or grandchild with this issue. I wonder how you'd feel if you lost a child to this that could be prevented.

 

[Missy1961]

I have a nephew who has food allergies (not to peanuts, but to wheat & eggs). I understand that peanut allergies can be very dangerous, but I think this restriction is totally over the top. When we are with my nephew we do eat products with wheat & eggs. We just wash our hands & faces after we're done.

How is the school going to enforce this? Smell every kid's breath?

 

[Christine]

How is the school going to enforce this? Smell every kid's breath?

They cannot enforce it and my guess is that this a request. No one could possibly enforce that.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

They just had a child die in our area for kissing a boy that had a pb sandwich. If there was anything I could do to save a life I'd do it. Beware you may have a child or grandchild with this issue. I wonder how you'd feel if you lost a child to this that could be prevented.

Who are you addressing? No one is saying that we want the kid to die. I am just stating that not all parents will adhere to the "school rule". It is a fact.
The handwashing and teeth brushing is a better way to handle it if a child has to eat peanut butter in the morning.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

They just had a child die in our area for kissing a boy that had a pb sandwich. If there was anything I could do to save a life I'd do it. Beware you may have a child or grandchild with this issue. I wonder how you'd feel if you lost a child to this that could be prevented.

Totally different issue. Yes, if my child were severly allergic to peanuts I would make sure they knew who they were kissing and what that person had eaten.

And yes, if my kids could not have any peanuts during the week it would be very difficult. We're vegetarian and it's a good source of protein. We would work around it and I would honor the request, especially concerning what kids bring to school in their lunches, but I would not have my child in an environment where one slip up by someone can mean their death. Their life is too important and I would home school them.

 

[ducklite]

What I don't understand, and please don't flame me, is how do these kids function in the world at large. Peanuts exist. Lots of restaurants at Disney, for example, have PB+J on the kids menu. Heck, we go to Food and Wine every year where there is a booth handing out little packs of peanuts. That means thousands of people walking around the parks munching on peanuts as they go.

Having a peanut-free classroom is one thing. A nut-free table in the cafeteria is also reasonable. But what about other kids the allergic child comes in contact with? What about his scout troop or her dance class or his football team or her soccer team? They may be made up of kids from multiple schools. What about family gatherings? It just isn't possible to avoid any and all possible exposures.

I think the request that families avoid consuming peanut products in their own homes is over the top. A suggestion to have kids wash up and brush their teeth before coming to school isn't unreasonable, but expecting parents to ban peanuts at home is ridiculous.

I agree 100%. Bottom line is this...the ADA (which I'm not even sure severe allergies are covered) requires REASONABLE accomodation. It doesn't require full accomodation when that accomodation is unreasonable. IMHO asking parents to refrain from having peanut products in their home is completely unreasonable.

I am "deathly" allergic to pine nuts. If they are on the same table as my food I'll have a reaction. Does that mean that I expect restaurants to banish them off the menu? No. It means that I expect them to take due care to keep them away from my food, and I would hope that my table mates would refrain from ordering anything containing them.

It comes down to a reasonable persons standard, and telling all kids they can't have peanut products within the confines of their own homes is highly unreasonable, and possibly a violation of civil rights. If any child is that sensitive to peanuts (or any allergen) then frankly the rights of the whole outweigh the rights of the individual, and that child should be kept out of school and homeschooled, even if it means a tutor provided by the district comes for 90 minuts a day. (What the Federal Law prescribes)

Anne

 

[golfgal]

They just had a child die in our area for kissing a boy that had a pb sandwich. If there was anything I could do to save a life I'd do it. Beware you may have a child or grandchild with this issue. I wonder how you'd feel if you lost a child to this that could be prevented.

This is the exact reason NOT to have these limitations on people in schools, though. The child will grow up thinking that no one can have peanut butter so I am ok instead of thinking everyone has peanut butter so I have to be careful. Also, you can't control an entire school. How about this example, the school asks that the kids don't have peanut butter for breakfast, fine, but Dad does and Dad being a Dad (sorry guys) isn't up on all the school rules (at least in our house anyway) and has peanut butter for breakfast. The kids are getting ready for school and don't see dad eating peanut butter. Dad gives all the kids a kiss good-bye and all the kids go to school thinking they are "safe" and the first thing little Johnny does when he gets to school is gives his best friend a hug, this best friend being the one with the peanut allergy.

The big problem isn't even peanut butter, that is easy because it is pretty obvious that there is peanuts in peanut butter, it is the other stuff in the house cooked in peanut oil that no one knows about that is the real problem. You just can't expect 500 families or what ever at that school to check the ingredient label on every product they bring into their house to make sure it doesn't have peanuts in it to protect one nameless child who may or may not come into contact with your child during the day.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I was wondering how old the kids are that the OP is talking about, and whether that makes a difference in how strict they ask people to be (as well as how bad the allergy is).

In my kids preschool, there was a child with a very severe peanut allergy. Besides NO peanut anything in the school, people were asked to wash their hands upon entering the school (thought admittedly, from what I observed, compliance with this policy was low). To my knowledge, there was never an allergic reaction, and it was also a private school.

In public elementary school, children can bring peanut products, but there are Nut Free Tables for the kids with allergies. In fact, my son stopped bringing in PB so he could sit with his friend who has a peanut allergy (which in a way was good because it helped him learn to like other things). When this child visits my home, his epi pen comes with him with instructions how to operate.

If anyone hasn't seen these stories re: peanut allergies, they were in the news recently - the first is about the girl who died after being kissed; the second about an elementary school child "attacked" on a school bus with peanut butter:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/conditions/11/28/kiss.death.ap/

http://www.local6.com/news/5550588/detail.html

 

[robinb]

Skywalker, what grade is your child in? I think it would be reasonable to ask parents to refrain from PB for breakfast (or brush and wash as suggested) in the lower grades if their child shares a classroom with a highly allergic child. However, if you child does not come in contact with the allergic child, it's totally over the top.

 

[mickeyfan2]

This is going to far. My cousin was very allergic to peanuts and we could not have peanuts on our breath when we were with him. But this was only if you were within a few feet of him.

If the kid is this bad, what does he do a mall, restaurant, WDW? I think the parents are asking too much. IMHO they need to put him in a bubble and homeschool him so the hundreds of other kids are not in such a police state at school.


ETA: A friend of mine has a daughter with peanut allergies. Thier Dr. said that peanut oil is not the problem, but the peanut protein. Peanut oil is strained to remove the protein, so most will not cause a reaction. Her Dr. said it is ok to use peanut oil. Now I might still refrain, just in case, but to ask everybody to is just over the top.

 

[Christine]

The big problem isn't even peanut butter, that is easy because it is pretty obvious that there is peanuts in peanut butter, it is the other stuff in the house cooked in peanut oil that no one knows about that is the real problem. You just can't expect 500 families or what ever at that school to check the ingredient label on every product they bring into their house to make sure it doesn't have peanuts in it to protect one nameless child who may or may not come into contact with your child during the day.

Okay, I'm just going to use this quote here for educational purposes only!

The problem, in this case, really is JUST the peanut butter. If you decide to fry your egg in peanut oil and eat it and go to school, it will not be a problem for the peanut allergic person. The problem is with the sticky residue of peanut butter. They have done tests on the "staying power" of peanut butter on utensils, desks, playground equipment, inside the mouth, skin, etc. It does not go away. Wiping it with a wet sponge does not remove it from the surface. You need a strong cleaner (something that causes things to break down/dissolve) to remove it from a surface. So, if the the kids does eat peanut butter, does not wash up, and gets it on something at school--well, there it is. It would probably be pretty rare that this would happen, though. But it would be perfectly fine to eat any other "may contain" product at home. It will not have the sticky residue issue.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Their latest is asking parents to please refrain from giving their children peanut butter for breakfast or lunch at home, in case they come into contact with the child at school. The letter has asked families to restrict peanut butter to "weekends and holidays only."

From the OP, it looks as though it's a request and not a mandate.

 

[Chuck S]

I think the request by the school to not use peanut products in your home is over the top. Do I think the child needs to be protected? Absolutely! Peanut allergies seem to have become more deadly over the last few years...but, there are other reasonable accomodations the school could make, like setting up peanut free zones, perhaps having a single classroom specifically for this child and others that agree NOT to use peanuts. There are ways to protect this child without a mandate to not eat peanuts in your own home, especially if your child has no normal contact with the child that is affected.

 

[skiwee1]

Sorry but what the school is requesting is ridiculous! If the child with the allergy has it that bad then what does the parent do with the child outside of school? Does that child never go to the mall, grocery store, or extracurricular activities? Do the parents know that all those people the child comes into contact with have not eaten peanut butter that day? Of course not! My DD lives on pb&j. There is no way I'd go along with peanut butter only on weekends and holidays. I say if the allergic child is that allergic then their parents need to find another way for that child to get an education. Flame away!!

 

[Christine]

As Pea-N-Me highlighted, the school has made a request not a mandate. Are you not seeing that part? Obviously, you don't have to comply with it as it is a request.

 

[skiwee1]

They just had a child die in our area for kissing a boy that had a pb sandwich. If there was anything I could do to save a life I'd do it. Beware you may have a child or grandchild with this issue. I wonder how you'd feel if you lost a child to this that could be prevented.

If my child had an allergy where he had to depend on 400 other kids to stay healthy then my child would not be going to school. My DD has 2 friends right in the neighborhood with a deadly peanut allergy. Both cannot even come in contact with the oil or breath the smell. When I know one of these friends will be hanging out with DD I make sure DD hasn't had any peanut butter that day. No biggie. One day without her favorite food isn't going to hurt her! To ask for no peanut butter at all would be way over the top. Thankfully neither set of parents has ever requested that the school do anything extra except have a peanut free classroom and a peanut free lunch table. That's it.

 

[skiwee1]

As Pea-N-Me highlighted, the school has made a request not a mandate. Are you not seeing that part? Obviously, you don't have to comply with it as it is a request.

I see it as a request but do not think the school has any right to even request something like that. It is ridiculous.

 

[Chuck S]

I wonder how much of this request is actually for iability purposes, in case the worst does happen. The school could then say "We did all we could do" to avoid a potentially expensive lawsuit.

 

[Aidensmom]

I think it is an over the top request. It is asking parents to limit the freedom's of their own child to accomodate another. I suppose since it is just a request, that they can make it, but they shouldn't expect everyone to follow it. And it should be no means be considered the solution to protecting this child rather than doing something like peanut free zones.

If it was my child and they were that much at risk, they would be homeschooled or tutored at home.

 

[yeartolate]

My son's good friend is very sensitive to peanuts. As a result he has been in a position to accept personal responsibility for what he comes in contact with. We take him on vacations with us - he carefully reads every package and asks servers questions. Ever since my son began school the cafeteria has peen peanut free and there have been peanut free tables. When kids bring in things to share - they say no peanuts or oils --- but the kids steer clear of all the stuff because they know that someone elses definition of "peanut free" is not what their definition is.

The peanut allergic kids need to deal with the fact that they cannot have what is brought into class on a regular basis.