Peanut-free classroom this year......

[Jaime4004]

DD has been put in the peanut free class this year (didn't even know we had one). This is not to start a debate over that (though i'm sure it will quickly turn that way anyway). I'm just wondering what that means in your schools.
I received a letter that snacks need to have ingredient labels with them and they discourage homemade snacks because they won't know the ingredients or if there has been any cross-contamination. Snacks are only allowed if they have not been manufactured in plants that also have nuts. If they bring in a snack without an ingredient list, they have to take it to the school nurse. If she can't say that it is safe, they have to eat it there.
I understand not bringing in foods with nuts. That's reasonable. However, we cannot bring in anything in a ziplock bag or container, unless we cut out the ingredient list and send that in as well. So no more buying a large jug of pretzels or goldfish and sending some in a baggie. I refuse to buy the smaller pre-packaged snacks, they are way more expensive. I think DD will probably be spending a lot of time with the nurse this year. Good thing she really likes her...

 

[dngnb8]

When I was a Paramedic, I used to pick up children who would have an anaphylatic reaction, just from the smell or peanut butter.

Some kids react so violently, and it is life threatening. Since PBJ, peanut butter crackers are popular for kids, parents notify the schools.

 

[Uncle Remus]

DD has been put in the peanut free class this year (didn't even know we had one). This is not to start a debate over that (though i'm sure it will quickly turn that way anyway). I'm just wondering what that means in your schools.
I received a letter that snacks need to have ingredient labels with them and they discourage homemade snacks because they won't know the ingredients or if there has been any cross-contamination. Snacks are only allowed if they have not been manufactured in plants that also have nuts. If they bring in a snack without an ingredient list, they have to take it to the school nurse. If she can't say that it is safe, they have to eat it there.
I understand not bringing in foods with nuts. That's reasonable. However, we cannot bring in anything in a ziplock bag or container, unless we cut out the ingredient list and send that in as well. So no more buying a large jug of pretzels or goldfish and sending some in a baggie. I refuse to buy the smaller pre-packaged snacks, they are way more expensive. I think DD will probably be spending a lot of time with the nurse this year. Good thing she really likes her...

I don't understand why kids have to take snacks to school, can't they just wait for lunch?

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

Our school hasn't gone to that extreme but if I remember correctly last year they sent home a note saying that no more peanut and peanut products would be allowed to be brought in from home. No peanut butter crackers or sandwiches, etc. Because of the risk that some kid with a severe peanut allergy might touch it or accidentally eat it somehow. But I haven't seen anything, a reminder, sent home this year.

That extreme snack rule seems, well...extreme.

 

[tlbwriter]

I don't understand why kids have to take snacks to school, can't they just wait for lunch?

When my daughter was in 1st grade, her class ate lunch at 10:45, so they were allowed an afternoon snack. In 5th grade, her class didn't eat lunch until 1:30, so they were allowed a morning snack.

OP, are you allowed to bring things like fresh fruit? That might be easier than dealing with labels.

 

[cornflake]

Couldn't you just make photocopies of the ingredient lists from the bulk packs of goldfish or whatever, cut them to size, keep them with the ziplocks and stick one in with whatever you're sending in the ziplock? Or cut out the last package's ingredient list, laminate it and have her bring it back home in the empty baggie so it just goes back and forth?

I know people invent allergies and go overboard on things but I know someone so allergic to peanuts (and 100 other things but peanuts...) that he took like two steps into his dorm room, collapsed onto the floor and nearly died because his roommate had eaten a pb sandwich a couple hours before. The roommate knew about the allergies, but thought if he'd eaten it when the allergic guy wasn't there and cleaned up it'd be fine.

There are cases that require more than 'teach the kid what they can and can't eat and to be responsible about it.'

 

[Hannathy]

I think DD will probably be spending a lot of time with the nurse this year. Good thing she really likes her...

Yeah mine would be eating in the nurses room a lot also. Hope it is a big room.

How old are these kids? seems pretty excessive to me. I can see the snacks that are being shared but not my kids.

 

[dngnb8]

There are cases that require more than 'teach the kid what they can and can't eat and to be responsible about it.'

yes there are. The problem comes with a litigious society. Johnny goes to class where suzy (who sits across the room) sneaks a peanut butter craker. Johnny smells the odor and has a serious reaction. Johnnys mommy sues the school even though it isnt the schools fault.

Many of todays rules are because of the sue happy families. Go for the deep pocket.

This is the result

 

[Uncle Remus]

So do these kids who are allergic to peanuts eat lunch in a separate room from the other students or are the cafeterias also peanut free?

 

[dngnb8]

So do these kids who are allergic to peanuts eat lunch in a separate room from the other students or are the cafeterias also peanut free?

yes. The kids know as well. They avoid large groups. Many kids grow out of these, but some get worse

 

[livndisney]

DD has been put in the peanut free class this year (didn't even know we had one). This is not to start a debate over that (though i'm sure it will quickly turn that way anyway). I'm just wondering what that means in your schools.
I received a letter that snacks need to have ingredient labels with them and they discourage homemade snacks because they won't know the ingredients or if there has been any cross-contamination. Snacks are only allowed if they have not been manufactured in plants that also have nuts. If they bring in a snack without an ingredient list, they have to take it to the school nurse. If she can't say that it is safe, they have to eat it there.
I understand not bringing in foods with nuts. That's reasonable. However, we cannot bring in anything in a ziplock bag or container, unless we cut out the ingredient list and send that in as well. So no more buying a large jug of pretzels or goldfish and sending some in a baggie. I refuse to buy the smaller pre-packaged snacks, they are way more expensive. I think DD will probably be spending a lot of time with the nurse this year. Good thing she really likes her...

I agree with the bolded statement. It is reasonable.

I don't agree with the school on the rest of it. I say this as someone with allergies and as a parent of a child with allergies. It is one thing to ask that peanut products not be sent in. It is quite another to ask that no snacks made in factories with nuts be sent in. The nurse is not going to be able to tell if the unlabeled snack is "safe" or not. Cutting out the ingredients or even copying it, is not making the school any "safer". I can put a cut out on anything, that doesn't make it allergen free. All that needs to happen for this schools plan to fail is a moment of human error. The nurse may be out sick, she may make a mistake. Dad/Grandma/whoever may pack snack for a child and not knowing any better may slip the clipped ingredients list into the snack. I could go on and on.

 

[Uncle Remus]

yes. The kids know as well. They avoid large groups. Many kids grow out of these, but some get worse

I wonder why schools don't just prohibit the use of peanuts on school campuses, especially since some kids can die so easily.

 

[cornflake]

There are totally peanut-free schools, in which there are no peanut products allowed in the cafeteria or classrooms.

As someone said, it can be due to litigation or the fear thereof, or one kid with that severe an allergy attending the school and it just being easier to blanket ban it.

 

[Uncle Remus]

There are totally peanut-free schools, in which there are no peanut products allowed in the cafeteria or classrooms.

As someone said, it can be due to litigation or the fear thereof, or one kid with that severe an allergy attending the school and it just being easier to blanket ban it.

It must make it hard for those kids to enter the workforce after they get outta school.

 

[Hannathy]

It must make it hard for those kids to enter the workforce after they get outta school.

Exactly! instead of being taught to live in the real world schools go waaaay overboard. Most of which is not needed.

 

[Jaime4004]

When I was a Paramedic, I used to pick up children who would have an anaphylatic reaction, just from the smell or peanut butter.

Some kids react so violently, and it is life threatening. Since PBJ, peanut butter crackers are popular for kids, parents notify the schools.

This is obvious... I said I had no problem with the no nut rule at snacktime. There wouldn't be any peanut butter in the room. The "extreme" part is that you can't bring anything from home without an ingredient label. Foods that have no nuts listed, but could possibly be packaged in a plant that had nuts in it, are not allowed. I have never seen this as a rule before. Many places, including dance, are nut free. And that's it. There's no one sniffing around the food and checking labels.

I'm not swift enough to do multiple quotes, so i'll address some of the other questions:

The school has allergy free tables, in the same cafeteria as everyone else. So the kids are allowed to bring in nuts for lunch. DD often eats nuts or peanut butter, rarely eats any form of meat, so this is good for us. If they are having nuts at lunch, the snack must be in a separate container. If someone is so highly allergic that smelling peanut butter could cause a reaction, I doubt they would be in the same cafeteria.

This is 2nd grade.

I could photocopy all ingredient lists of foods we have in the house and send in the right copy each day with the snack. But i'm not going to. I feel that it is way overkill.

The nurse will definitely not be able to tell if snacks are safe by looking at them. I'm secretly hoping that enough kids are sent to the nurse each day, that it will be very distracting, and they become more aware of the how ridiculous the policy is.

I don't know why they need a snack. Last year snack time was 9am!!! I dropped her off at 8:15! She definitely didn't need a snack but I wasn't going to make her the only one without one.

I would have just called the school and had DD moved to a different class, but she was excited to have this particular teacher. So she'll stay and eat her muffin with the nurse. To the fruit question, yes, sometime she does bring fruit, sometimes not. That one she'll be able to eat in class, the others probably not. Good thing she feigned a lot of illnesses in kindergarten so she could go visit the nurse. She know knows her way around quite well.

 

[goofyernmost]

I'm sorry...I feel for you child and your family due to the peanut allergy. I understand your concern that your child not be exposed to any peanut related products.

Here's what I don't understand. Why do you think that it is the responsibility of every person within twenty feet of your child to sacrifice and be, basically, held responsible for his or her well being. That is your responsibility. When you tell a school that they must protect, when you tell every single child within reach of your child that they must protect, when you rely on the responsibility or simple memory of every other person that your child will come in contact with to protect your child from something that they probably don't even know exists or are to immature to be able to process, then my friend...I am not impressed when you say how much you care about the welfare of your child.

Then you are way more focused on making society deal with your problems then you are the welfare of your child. If someone told me that one of my kids had an allergy to peanuts, although I know it would be a hardship on them and myself, I would guarantee that he or she never got exposed because he or she wouldn't go near the possible source of the problem.

If someone says that if my child were to accidentally be exposed to something that would easily kill them. I am not going to entrust their life and safety to a bunch of people that I have never even met. Mistakes are made and all it takes is one such mistake. Is your insistence that your child mainstream more important then their life? I know it wouldn't be what the majority would call an ideal life...but at least it would be a life.

It's like saying...Listen world...my child's body will not do well if you run over it with your vehicle. I am going to let him play in the street anyway...just don't hit him ok? OK!

 

[kydisneyfans]

Our son's school went "peanut free" during his 4th grade year. You couldn't bring anything from home, either to eat for lunch or for a class treat, without a label. There should have been areas set up where kids who brought their lunch could eat without penalty.

It got inconvenient taking his lunch and eating it on the front sidewalk everyday, but he liked the good days when we went to Sonic or Burger King during lunch. He had some tardys for being late back from lunch, but he was with his parents, and we didn't care.

He's now at a different school.

 

[beachcomber]

It must make it hard for those kids to enter the workforce after they get outta school.

As a grown up with this allergy, it is. I used to teach, there is no way I could now that my allergy has increased. I would have no voice and would have to use way too much rescue medicine....and, continually being exposed would increase my reactions.

I minimize all exposures that I can, so that I can do "risky" things like flying on airplanes, walking in the aisle next to the bulk food aisles at grocery stores, going on a field trip with my children (however, the teacher generally tells all kids assigned to my group to NOT bring peanuts), etc. We tend to host a lot at our home so that way I can control what comes in and when I go to others' houses for meetings (non profit organization), they try to keep it peanut/nut free for me (hey, if they want me to serve, they will accommodate! LOL). I do not ask or expect non-family members to accommodate me, but I do expect family members to be considerate. Most friends do, most family members do. I find MOST people are compassionate and recognize that breathing, staying rash free, retaining my voice, and keeping my lips from swelling up like Lisa Rinna's before she had them fixed is a good thing for me.

 

[dngnb8]

I wonder why schools don't just prohibit the use of peanuts on school campuses, especially since some kids can die so easily.

My DD14s school doesn't use peanuts on campus. They cannot really control the student population, especially if it is an open campus