Friday, September 14, 2012

Peanut butter and jelly sandwich sparks controversy: Can we really ban nut products from schools? | Parenting - Yahoo! Shine

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  1. LiseSeptember 14, 2012 at 9:22 PM

    I have 2 children with severe peanut allergies. While I do not expect the school to stop everyone from eating peanut products I do expect them to have policies in place to keep my kids safe. To the people out there that think this is not life threatening, you are completely mistaken.

    My children's school has a peanut free area for them to eat...(with any other child with this allergy and of course, for the friends who are not eating peanuts that day.) it is not such a big deal...and bullying because of this? Never, the teachers are intelligent, mindful and respectful...this attitude trickles down to the students... even to the kindergartners. The teachers and staff have all been trained to recognize allergic reactions and how to use an epipen. They in turn have educated the students about what to do if you are eating peanut products on any given day:
    Namely- 1.wash hands after you eat! Pretty simple; this will stop the spread of invisible peanut oil. This is actually the biggest culprit...any idiot can say no to eating peanut butter and if that is all it took to keep safe we wouldn't have a problem. People, it is often the oils on little fingers that touch desks, chairs, balls after lunch...THAT is the real danger. At my children's school it is simply part of the school culture...teachers are aware and kids are aware. No biggie.
    2. No peanut products in the classrooms and no group snacks that contain nuts...

    Now, it hasn't been a fool proof solution. There have been, "events" where benadryl, epipen and 911 had to be called. However, the teachers were well prepared with benadryl and epipens in classrooms, close to the lunch area and recess area. The teachers acted quickly ....disaster averted. ( for those of you who have your panties in a twist about not being able to feed Johnny his PB&J...this is actually a real disaster...a tad different than a finicky eater ) I would also like to point out, that after each of these incidents, it was the teachers who approached the Principal asking if they should consider becoming peanut free - they were terrified when they saw what happens in a severe allergic reaction. Each one approached me afterwards feeling just terrible that something had happened on "their watch". My heart went out to each of them...as I knew exactly how they were feeling. It IS terrifying.

    Like anything else, it is a matter of figuring out a way that works for all of us, those with and without allergies. That being said, if my kids (and others) had reaction after reaction I would indeed have pursued a no nut policy as the school obviously was not able to get a handle on the situation and make it a safe place ( as in life or death safe).

    For those of you that think we are making a big ado over nothing:

    You live with your child being deathly allergic to something that is just about everywhere kids are....do it for a week. Spend 90 seconds watching your child turn blue and gasp for air, because of an invisible oil, stab him with hug needle containing medicine that will make his heart race so violently that your not sure which is worse...the gasping for air or the shakes....you get through it. Then, and only THEN you can tell us to get a handle and "get over it".

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