Speaking of schools, how do schools now deal with child with peanut allergy?

[CandyMandy]

We don't have peanut free tables, we have "nut tables". Anyone who has anything nut related is asked to sit at those tables, and then after lunch they are taken in and hands are washed and clothing inspected for crumbs.

ISOLATED, HOSED DOWN AND CLOTHING INSPECTED!?! I never thought I'd actually hear about a literal example of the "nanny state," but here it is!

We got a 50+ page book listing forbidden and acceptable foods. Interestingly enough, some foods were in both categories. We also got a long list of chemical compounds that we were to be on the alert to avoid when we shop. These were various proteins, with nothing in the name that would clue the casual shopper that it involved nuts or nut-derivatives.

Something tells me the I.R.S. must have been involved in writing that book.

 

[luvmy3]

Our school is not peanut free. They do not allow snacks containing peanuts in classrooms but children are free to bring a food in for lunch. There is a peanut free table in the cafeteria. They pick non allergy friends to sit at the peanut free table, obviously if they don't have peanut products in their lunch.

 

[MariDisney]

I'm not sure why I feel compelled to share this, but I do. I am a behavior specialist and travel all over the place seeing kids in school and their homes. I often each lunch on the road. One day last year I had a peanut butter sandwich in the car. Some time later I went into a school and the classroom door had a peanut free zone sign on the door. I didn't think much of it until I pulled out my pen and caught a glimpse of my nail. I had a hunk of PB sort of under my nail (it wasn't as gross as it sounds) that I didn't notice. I got right up from the table I was sitting at, washed my hands, and wiped down the table. I also informed the teacher in case anything else needed to be done.

I guess my point is that the school had done what it could to make it a peanut free classroom. But, I inadvertently brought peanut in and may have contaminated several areas of the classroom. Had I not noticed it under my nail nothing would have been wiped down. I feel a bit like there's somewhat of a false sense of security in having peanut free tables, etc. There is always a chance of it coming in. I don't know what you do as a parent if your child's allergy is so severe that it is a life and death situation. What about the kid in a different who gets some on the music room door and then the allergic kid is exposed later in the day when coming into music class? It's a little scarey.

 

[Disneyadore]

Well, here in Germany they do not do anything special--they just expect the kids to handle it on their own (at least in 5th grade on up).

What really intrigues me is that peanut or any nut allergy is an almost unknown phenomena in Europe.
My kid went to school in Holland,Germany,France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxemburg's and Austria. Never heard anything about any restriction. The European air carriers have no rules at all. Peanuts are given out on every flight.
I guess we have stronger genes.

 

[jme829]

My kids school has a peanut free table in the cafeteria that gets washed after each group leaves with a separate marked bucket of water/soap and I know of only one teacher that keeps her room peanut free, but other than that no other precautions.

They serve PBJ as a third lunch option every day as well (we have 2 main choices and then PBJ). Snacks brought in do have to be store bought.

I work in the HS and there is no way we could keep 1700 kids peanut free and as a matter of fact our top selling cafeteria item is peanut butter crispy bars. We sell more of those then any other single item we sell. We also offer pbj's and uncrustables every day. I know of one kid that comes through my line whose account is flagged for a peanut and milk allergy yet every single day he buys 2 pb bars and 2 milks.

What about a child who has say pb toast for breakfast and then heads to school in a class with pb allergy? How can you control that? That child goes to school and maybe still has some residue on them and then interacts with the allergic child. Theres just no way possible to keep an environment completely peanut free.

 

[Becky2005]

I know the classrooms are peanut free if there is a child with a peanut allergy in it. Then there are PB free tables at lunch.

I know in Kindergarten, our classroom has no snacks at all because of too many different allergies and the kids have to wipe their hands everytime they enter the classroom. Now this is 1/2 day Kindergarten and afternoon, nothing stops the kids from eating PB before they go to school.

ON the other hand, it would be wise to get the kids to the point that if they KNOW they have allergies to just not eat anything that might have the potential risk. I just had to sign a note for my DD saying they are making food in gym class (I have no idea why they are making food in gym class but alas they are) and if your child is allergic to anything tell them NOT to eat it. Apparently they had a High Schooler eat something they were allergic to and had a reaction. I would imagine that by HS age, they assumed the kids knew better than to eat something they were allergic to, especially when it was something THEY made, so had all the ingredients right there & could read the labels.

I really don't think they do peanut free tables or anything like that in High School as there are not assigned tables, kids are coming & going left & right during lunch time, they have the cuilnary corner where the kids studying cooking make things along with the regular lunch area -- basically it would be like a cafeteria at a work place or something like that. In addition, the park district uses the facilities over the weekends/evenings, craft shows are held there, etc... and I really think it would be impossible to keep out every single product that is made with peanuts, milk, wheat and any other allergy you could think of.

 

[TheZue]

I'm not entirely sure the food allergy rate has gone up that much. I gratduated in 1994 with somebody who had a life threatening allergy to fish; that's one you NEVER hear about in kids now so maybe it's a bit of what we are allergic to has changed a bit. Anways he also had an anaphalactic reaction if he was near it, he had some coke that was in a cooler where they were keeping fish and his throat swelled shut on him. Scary stuff.

I think the schools should also be asking how kids react to certain allergens. My son was allergic to sesame seeds when he was younger but grew out of it but it was never life threatening. I told the school because I didn't want him trading food and we have a lot of asian kids in our school so if anything came from their house for snack time I wanted them to ask the parents who brought it in, and tell him he couldn't have it if it had sesame...there was no reason for that allergy to impact anyone else, but they still needed to know if he was there a third of the day.

 

[Christine]

I think the schools should also be asking how kids react to certain allergens.

Every year I have to fill out a very in-depth form for the school which explains my son's allergies and what his specific reactions are. This has to be signed by me and a physician. So, I do think most schools are asking the questions. My son is 15 and there hasn't been a time that we were allowed to attend school, claim an allergy, and not document the allergy and the reaction or reaction potential based on testing.

 

[Vixen]

Same here. I remember some of them having a very small peanut allergy i.e. they could eat things with little peanut content, or thing that have touched peanuts, etc. But not severe allergies. And I graduated in 2005.

Back in my days of school i never heard anything about peanut allergies... I remember we always had PB&J , nutter butters, brownies with choped peanuts on top and no one in the school had problems with it that i can remember.
I remember one of my class mates mom always brought in home made peanut butter cookies.

I graduated in 2002

 

[Hoodie]

What really intrigues me is that peanut or any nut allergy is an almost unknown phenomena in Europe.
My kid went to school in Holland,Germany,France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxemburg's and Austria. Never heard anything about any restriction. The European air carriers have no rules at all. Peanuts are given out on every flight.
I guess we have stronger genes.

This is actually because Europeans have a much lower exposure to peanuts of any kind. Peanuts (PB, nuts themselves) have been a HUGE part of the American diet for a couple of generations now. They are finding that this long term exposure is actually part of the cause in the increase in allergies. We weren't meant to be exposed too much. That's why PB is now on the restricted list during pregnancy and for the 1st year.

I have an odd food allergy - bananas. Can't eat them, can't touch them. I've been told that I'm probably allergic to kiwi as a result (and I'm sensitive to latex - not a full allergy). All the same family. Some peanut allergies can be downright deadly, but trying to ban all possible food allergies would be difficult. I can't even think what kids would be left to eat! Just from people I know you'd have to ban all wheat products, peanuts, tree nuts, sunflower seeds (and sunbutter), bananas, kiwi, oranges, turkey, all dairy products and chocolate.

What's left?

 

[LuvSulley]

I am more concerned with how I went through 13 years of school without knowing anyone with a nut/pb allergy but now there are several in each grade. Something isn't right, I wish they would figure out what it is!

I'm very curious about this too. I never knew so many children had peanut allergies until I started lurking on the DIS. I don't remember any kids having one or even any bans on what food we could take to school.

He wasn't, it had to be kept in the nurses' office, when he collapsed the lunch monitor called down to the office and they sent the nurse with his epi pen and she administered it but it was too late. They took him by abulance and pronounced him out of the school but the nurse said he was gone before she got his epi into him. My DD isn't even allowed to keep her inhaler on her, it is kept with the teacher and then passed from her to each of the spcials' instructors.

What is the reasoning for that? I don't have experience with epi pens or inhalers but I assume the person who needs one will need it immediately. Why does a teacher have to hold on to it?

 

[J3nn78]

We have peanut free tables in the cafeteria. OUr cafeteria serves peanut free lunches. They offer uncrustables sandwiches because they are pre packaged and therefor not handling the actual peanut butter.
The allergy kids are placed in the same homerooms and those rooms become nut free for the year. I have a classroom like that now and we sent home a notice in the beginning of the year. For those with more severe allergies, the teacher must carry the epi pens wherever the class goes.

It is unfair to ask for an entire school to be nut free. THere are plenty of measures that can be taken to keep it safe and please both sides.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Besides the fact that they have zero nutritional value they are a huge choking hazard. He just turned 4. They have been served for lunch in his class once a week since he was 2. Luckily I was there touring the school on a day they served them to see with my own eyes. They put the dog in a bun and cut it in half (not lenthwise, across the middle). This is for 2 YEAR OLDS!!! I do give my son hot dogs on occassion at home but I always dice them up pretty small. I am not a "helicopter" mom at all and in fact am pretty relaxed about most things...but right after DS was born a 3 year old died at a childcare center in our area by choking on a hotdog. Scared the you know what out of me!

I wouldn't have a problem with hotdogs served in elementary school age kids, but they don't belong in preschools! And maybe once or twice a month, not once a week!

ITA with you about serving hotdogs to kids that young! Did you say anything to the lunch people when you saw how they served them? I used to cut my kid's up 4 pieces lengthwise, then dice those up. Nothing bigger than a pea. You are not a helicopter mom!

 

[golfgal]

I would bet that if the vast majority of these kids with "peanut allergies" were actually tested nothing would show up. Honestly, some parents will claim a peanut allergy, ADD or whatever happens to be the vogue condition of the day just for the attention. That's not to say that there aren't some kids that REALLY have an allergy to peanuts or whatever but a lot of parents use it as an attention getter or an excuse for why their kid is that way.

DD has a friend with a peanut allergy. She stayed with us a couple weekends ago. Her mom said that they have not had to use an epi pen in over 8 years and even then she only had some mild hives that they assume were caused by peanuts. Personally I would do food testing with her but that is me.

As far as I know, there are no accommodations in our high school for peanut allergies.

 

[mumom95]

My son's classroom is peanut free, as someone has an allergy, but he can have peanut products at lunch. There are peanut free tables in the lunchroom.

This is how it works at our school also. I think it's a good compromise for everyone.

 

[Disneyadore]

This is actually because Europeans have a much lower exposure to peanuts of any kind. Peanuts (PB, nuts themselves) have been a HUGE part of the American diet for a couple of generations now. They are finding that this long term exposure is actually part of the cause in the increase in allergies. We weren't meant to be exposed too much. That's why PB is now on the restricted list during pregnancy and for the 1st year.

I have an odd food allergy - bananas. Can't eat them, can't touch them. I've been told that I'm probably allergic to kiwi as a result (and I'm sensitive to latex - not a full allergy). All the same family. Some peanut allergies can be downright deadly, but trying to ban all possible food allergies would be difficult. I can't even think what kids would be left to eat! Just from people I know you'd have to ban all wheat products, peanuts, tree nuts, sunflower seeds (and sunbutter), bananas, kiwi, oranges, turkey, all dairy products and chocolate.


What's left?

So that would mean that people or children that come from Africa don't have this problem in America? They grew up with nuts being a basic part of there food for centuries.
Not any racial pun intended just curious.

 

[PirateFairy8]

I'm going to get flamed, but when it comes to certain fruit allergies I wonder if the kid is really allergic or just hates it that much.

Not flaming, but I have multiple fruit allergies. I never mention them to most people because at 23 I can monitor my own food, but I really am allergic to fruits such as apples, bananas, cantelope, watermelon, etc. It is very strange even to me and people often don't believe me because they have never heard of it, but I promise I am really allergic.

 

[MM27]

What is the reasoning for that? I don't have experience with epi pens or inhalers but I assume the person who needs one will need it immediately. Why does a teacher have to hold on to it?

In my school teachers aren't allowed to hold onto those things either. They are locked in the nurses office. I have a huge issue with that, and have expressed my feelings several times at my school, because I have a student this year that has an Epi-Pen. My classroom is on the third floor of the building and the nurses office is on the first. By the time someone gets up to us, the kid could be dead. They talked about putting some kind of lock box in the classroom but then it was shot down because we are departmentalized and then he would be in a room again without it. When the kids go to specials, the same thing would occur.

I also have several asmathic students and their inhalers are also kept in the nurses office. Our nurse has a habit of taking really looooong lunches. That means if a child needs one of these things, they pretty much have to wait until she comes back

We don't have a peanut free school, but if there is a child in our class with a peanut allergy they make the classroom and one of the two lunch tables peanut free.

 

[Chelley00]

ISOLATED, HOSED DOWN AND CLOTHING INSPECTED!?! I never thought I'd actually hear about a literal example of the "nanny state," but here it is!

Oh my, it's not that bad. It's a small school, so the peanut table is right next to all the other kids. They wash the kids hands and make sure they don't have peanut crumbs on them because one girl can have a severe reaction if she comes into contact with someone with peanut residue. We're talking throat close, not breathing type of reaction. Little kids are messy, and it's easy to miss that peanut butter on the shirt.

 

[golfgal]

In my school teachers aren't allowed to hold onto those things either. They are locked in the nurses office. I have a huge issue with that, and have expressed my feelings several times at my school, because I have a student this year that has an Epi-Pen. My classroom is on the third floor of the building and the nurses office is on the first. By the time someone gets up to us, the kid could be dead. They talked about putting some kind of lock box in the classroom but then it was shot down because we are departmentalized and then he would be in a room again without it. When the kids go to specials, the same thing would occur.

I also have several asmathic students and their inhalers are also kept in the nurses office. Our nurse has a habit of taking really looooong lunches. That means if a child needs one of these things, they pretty much have to wait until she comes back

We don't have a peanut free school, but if there is a child in our class with a peanut allergy they make the classroom and one of the two lunch tables peanut free.

When our kids were in elementary school they had this policy, none of the kids could keep their inhalers with them, they had to be in the nurses office locked up. Well, one day the gym teacher decided it was nice out so they were going to run the mile. The problem is, she didn't tell the kids ahead of time so none of the kids could get to their inhalers. Her comment was "it's only a mile, they will be fine". Well, MY kid was one of the many that had an asthma attack during their "just a mile". He loved to run and would have been fine had he been able to use his inhaler first. The phones were ringing off the hook the next morning when the parents found out. They changed the policy that day and allowed the kids to keep them with them.