<p>There’s a big debate in my home community over how children with life-threatening allergies should be handled in schools. One side says that all peanut products should be banned, the other side says that allergic children should be segregated and no accommodations made. Thoughts?</p>
<p>I can see both sides. </p>
<p>I know several families with peanut allergies. The parents are incredibly vigiliant. The children are not allowed to wander off in the pet shop because the bird foods contain peanuts. I have peanut allergy family customers where I custom blend the bird food to be sure there’s no peanut in the mixes. (But what happens if in the warehouse some peanut oil was spilled and it got on the dog food bags? This has happened … there’s probably peanut contamination on the store shelves.)</p>
<p>It seems to me – as an outsider – that I’d rather my child was segregated than depend on the other parents to abide by my childs dietary restrictions. At least I know she’d be safe at school.</p>
<p>Ok, I will never be able to state my views on this and have it all make sense, but I will try.</p>
<p>My daughter has a life threatening allergy to peanuts and peanut products. We have known since she was a year old, before the days of not feeding young children peanuts. When she was younger we watched her like a hawk. Before she could barely speak she would tell people she was allergic to peanuts. Most people assume that just means she couldn’t eat peanuts, which they weren’t serving anyway. No, this also means she can’t eat the cookies you just baked as you used the same cookie sheet for the peanut butter cookies, she cannot have the ice cream frm B&R because the scooper might have been in or near the peanut butter ice cream or one of the flavors with peanuts in them, nor can she have the store bought cookies as they are made on the same line with the peanut butter cookies. Chinese restaurants are a huge problem and I could go on and on.</p>
<p>My daughter has lived with this allergy for 19 years with only 3 serious reactions. Until the teen years, her reactions were manageable, then they became more severe. All her friends and her roomate know how to use her epi-pen and where she keeps her extra ones. Her friends know what they can and can’t eat around her, and not to share her drink when they had something with peanuts earlier in the day. She wear a med alert bracelet and is very pro active.</p>
<p>Now, do I believe that children with a peanut allery should be segregated-NO! Do I think schools should be peanut free-NO! PB&J is a staple food for young children; I know many kids that eat little or nothing else. What I do think is that school can be proactive and keep a peanut free area for those children that need it. Some schools have a peanut free table that those with an allergy can eat and have their friends sit with them during lunch assuming the other child doesn’t have a PB&J sandwich, or cookies etc… My daughter did manage at school with kids around her eating peanut butter, and there was always that worry that she might touch some peanut butter that got onto the table from an earlier lunch. She was the only child with a peanut allergy in an elementary school of 600 students, so little was known at the time. I guess we were lucky that her reactions were not worst than they were at the time. Anyway, I don’t feel that segregating a child that already feels different is the answer. Having a table that is cleaned properly, and that no peanut products have been on seems better to me.</p>
<p>As careful as our family is, we still run into problems. I recently brought home some new low fat ice cream for my daughter and I and missed and ingredient she couldn’t have! I have been reading labels for 19 years and just missed this one. My husband still likes to eat peanut while watching the baseball games and we make him clean up the mess; but he can not have them when she is around. We have more trouble with cross contamination (where something with peanut touches something she has eaten.)</p>
<p>As far as school goes, when she was in 3 grade the class was taking a field trip on a bus that took close to 2 hours. The teachers wanted to serve peanut butter crackers to the students to hold them over until lunch. The room mother called me to let me know that they would have cheese cracker for my daughter. I had to explain that 30 kids on a bus eating peanut butter crackers with the windows closed and my daughter having cheese cracker would be a bad idea. You might as well feed her the peanuts as the smell alone could be a problem. No problem, all the kids got cheese crackers!</p>
<p>Out biggest problem right now is Delta! Most, is not all other airlines have gone peanut free. Delta was at one time, but they are serving peanuts again. My daughter has had a rum in with a few flight attendants over serving peanut near her. Delta’s ruling is no peanut 4 rows in front or behine the person with an allergy. We use to be able to request a peanut free flight, but not anymore. a passenger on one flight threw a temper tantum because he couldn’t be served peanuts! Luckily on this flight the flight attendant was very understanding. The passenger was moved to another seat so that he could eat his peanuts! We wrote Delta and ask why they were serving peanuts again and we were told that peanuts were the most requested snack. I would think that someone could live a few hours without a bag of peanuts; the smokers have managed without their smokes!! Delta is so worried that someone won’t fly their airline because they don’t serve peanut? They better take a harder look at the airline industry!</p>
<p>Sorry for the typos-I’m in a rush to leave!!</p>
<p>My older son has life-threatening food allergies. He is one of the lucky few who have outgrown a documented peanut allergy. He has outgrown his allergies to many other foods (cow’s milk, goat’s milk, eggs, sesame seeds, etc.) but is still allergic to several tree nuts (walnuts, cashews, etc.) and will probably not outgrow them at this point. </p>
<p>I think that the answer depends on the child’s age. Young children are likely to transfer foods like peanut butter to allergic children via playground equipment, etc. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask parents not to send in food containing peanuts if there is a severely allergic child at the school, and I don’t understand why any parent would want to increase the risk of another child having an anaphylactic reaction. </p>
<p>Older children are another matter. My son is very careful about reading labels and not eating anything questionable (for example, he doesn’t touch Chinese food, knowing that even dishes not containing nuts are likely to contain traces from re-used cooking oil). </p>
<p>An allergic reaction isn’t pretty. Have you ever been in a situation where your child was in distress (to put it mildly), in a hospital, and the doctors were clearly scared? I have been. Ask the parents who think it’s so important that their kids have PBJ at school if they understand the consequences of an accidental exposure.</p>
<p>pokey318 - We crossposted. I, also, hate the peanuts on airplanes. When my son was still allergic to peanuts, I viewed them as hand grenades. Studies of air filters on planes where peanuts were served have shown large quantities of peanut dust.</p>
<p>I screwed up on reading labels once. I bought some butternut squash ravioli from Whole Foods, and served them for dinner (my allergic son was not home that night). The next night we had a few leftover and he ate one. He immediately reacted. It turned out that they contained walnuts. It hadn’t occurred to me that they might - the filling was very smooth. I gave him the Epi-pen, called the ambulance, we spent the night in the ER, and he missed two days of school. </p>
<p>The more frightening episode was in a hospital, during a food challenge.</p>
<p>Pokey, I think your post makes a great deal of sense. I am fortunate that neither of my kids have a life-threatening allergy. But, as a parent, I wouldn’t have any problem with serving something else if another child had such a problem. The last thing I’d want is to be responsible for a severe reaction in any child. However, as children become teenagers and young adults, I think a parent has to accept that the world is not entirely free of their allergen, and teach the child appropriately. It sounds like you’ve done a wonderful job.</p>
<p>I wanted to add that two of my sisters DO have severe food allergies – one to seafood and one to corn and some medications. It’s not easy dealing with these issues.</p>
<p>One of my close friends has severe food allergies. </p>
<p>IMO, it doesn’t make sense to ban a food entirely. Perhaps you could ban open peanuts; avoid serving peanuts on school buses; and have a peanut-free table in the lunchroom. Peanuts v. peanut butter is different - peanut butter isn’t quite as airborne. But the world, as stated above, is not entirely free of an allergen. </p>
<p>I think that some of the other issue is that for other kids - be they picky eaters or have religious/personal beliefs that prohibit them from eating meat - nuts are a staple protein. It is very easy to say that people can live without a 0.5 oz bag of peanuts on a plane; it’s a lot harder to say that a kid has to go without nuts (because it’s not just peanuts!) for lunch for 12 years straight. </p>
<p>As for planes… I flew a transAtlantic flight with my friend. Before doing that, I called the airline and requested a peanut-free flight. No problems there - they don’t serve peanuts. They were able to get her a meal completely free of any allergen (she has a zillion allergies) and kept her fed throughout the 8 hour flight. Kudos to them.</p>
<p>I’ll remember to not fly Delta. Planes, with their horrible air quality, are just a different ballgame than a school cafeteria. Also impossible to get out. Honestly, I’ll bring my Smartfood and avoid a flight in which we might need an emergency landing.</p>
<p>zoosermom, This is how it has been dealt with at a few of schools where my children were enrolled.
- One sent a note asking parents not to send in peanut butter sandwiches, as well as foods containing peanuts and explained the life threatening issues.
They went no further. They were not acting as food police and I am sure that peanut products were sent in anyway. - Another school did not act upon the issue at all.
- A peanut free table was set up in one lunch room.
- Another school asked parents not to send in peanut produts. This age group was such that many kids were in charge of their own lunches. They were going to do what they wanted anyway. I happen to know that one child brought a peanut butter sandwich for lunch daily (and the parents knew it)! Some teachers screened the party foods, and others ignored the peanut issue altogether! </p>
<p>Also, some parents feel that if convenient refrigeration is not provided for turkey, tuna, egg salad options, then too bad about being compliant. They do not want their child getting food poisoning. They are going to worry about their children, who are #1 to them, and selfishly are not going to worry about the child with allergies to nuts. That is just the cold reality.</p>
<p>I have a husband with life threatening allergies (not peanuts, but tree nuts and fish), so I know all about how serious these allergies are. He is fortunate that some nuts cause him fewer problems than when he was younger.</p>
<p>Despite that, I am opposed to how our school has handled peanut and other food allergies, which is to eliminate ALL foods from home, completely. No birthday cupcake, celebratory party, etc., for fear of allergies. I think that is a little over the top myself, and all the children suffer as a result of such policy.</p>
<p>My DD has also gone to a camp with a peanut free snack policy. The children could only bring a snack from a provided list.</p>
<p>I am not opposed to a peanut free table, or even the peanut free snacks (although I had issues with it, fundamentally) but I know if one of my children had the allergies my DH does, I would not, could not, expect the school to protect my child from every possible way in which my he/she could be exposed to the allergen.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that you are never going to get full compliance, so it does not work. You may reduce some peanut exposure, but it will never be eliminated. BTW, no schools that my kiddos attended eliminated BD cupcakes or homebaked goods, so you can see how none of their policies made any sense medically. Peanut products are being sent in daily.</p>
<p>you wont get full compliance so kids need to be really aware
I think it may help for there to be “magnet” schools for kids with severe health issues- like allergies- sensitivities… Many adutls also have extreme sensitivities to scents etc.
I think that by locating other target programs in the school, like maybe a special music program, wont make the kids feel like they are being punished, but it is easier to get at least some compliance if there is a strong cohort of kids, rather than jsut a couple. </p>
<p>I know that the kids are going to have to be vigilant as well, but while I don’t have any kids with allergies, I know some, and I think it is exhausting for them to always be on the look out for random peanuts.
I think it would be nice if health issues just could be looked at as another way that we are diverse, and that by learning about health issues someone else has, we can bridge divides in communities</p>
<p>At the preschool where I teach, we don’t allow any homemade foods of any kind to be brought in. Everything must come wrapped from the store with the ingredients clearly listed. We had 2 children with peanut allergies last year. We also had one who was allergic to red food coloring. We were required to keep the epi-pens out on the counter at all times and carry it with us when when the class left the room for outdoor play. If a birthday snack was brought in containing peanuts, we would substitute something else for the children who were allergic. Theirs was not so severe that the smell of peanuts was dangerous.
At Easter, the mothers brought in allowable candy for their peanut allergic kids to find in the egg hunt. We put stickers on the special eggs and made sure they only went home with those.</p>
<p>I guess that works in a preschool. I would think that a public school cannot stop students from bringing in lunch from home.</p>
<p>Having the ep -pens available at all times is extremely important, as well as educating the caretakers of the signs of an allergic reation and how to deal with them. </p>
<p>A high school girl was lost due to peanut allergy on a church camp out in my home town. Neither the girl nor the camp had the epi pen with them. It was tragic. She had not had a reaction in years and apparently didn’t inform the camp of her allergy.
You really can’t be too cautious -</p>
<p>I can’t imagine not warning any camp, school, program that a child has a life threatening allergy. My daughter was embarressed in early elementary school as not only did all the teachers and room mothers know of her allergy, but there was a sign above the sink in the classroom to notify any visitors or substitute teachers of her allergy and the location of her epi-pen! My daughter didn’t like everyone talking about her “problem”.</p>
<p>We ran into a problem with one “mean” boy in first grade that threatened to touch daughter with his pb&J sandwich. My daughter screamed loud enough to bring the teacher running! Guess who never got to sit next to my daughter again?? Even now my daughter can get a bit hyper sensitive when friends will teases her about peanuts. None of her friends would dream of putting her in harms way, but one can always get a reaction out of her, so they like to tease her; expecially her older brother!</p>
<p>Northeastmom brings up a good point about food poisoning.</p>
<p>In hot climates and/or for kids in the last lunch period of the day, a peanut butter sandwich is a safe choice in terms of food poisoning risk because it won’t spoil, as so many other types of sandwiches can.</p>
<p>So if the school doesn’t provide a way for kids to refrigerate their lunches, I can see why parents would object to a no-peanut-products policy. It’s not that the parents want the allergic child to be placed in a life-threatening situation, it’s just that they don’t want their own children prevented from bringing in a safe lunch if there is a less intrusive way to solve the problem (such as peanut-free tables in the cafeteria).</p>
<p>My kids’ schools had a rule that no food could be shared in the cafeteria, and they also allowed only commercial packaged snacks with labels for celebrations in the classroom, but there was no no-peanut-products policy.</p>
<p>Are there not masks or filters the kids could wear if they are that hypersensitive to peanuts, etc.?</p>
<p>My son had life-threatening allergies to all milk/soy products and their derivatives. Luckily, he has outgrown the severity if not the allergy.</p>
<p>I never asked anyone to make allowances for his allergies, but was always greatful for those who tried. I felt this was an issue he was going to live with his entire life and he needed to “learn to live with it”. I could not risk him eating anything that I had not made or read the ingredient list. He knew, from a very young age, that he could not eat anything without an ingredient list he could check. Luckily, he could read and understand this issue very early.</p>
<p>I was always surprised and dissappointed that the very parents (unlike pokey318) who campaigned vigorously against peanuts being allowed at school did not recognize “other” allergies and constantly planned pizza and “ice cream” parties for the class. I never complained - but I always sent alternative items.</p>
<p>I understand the consequences of allergies - my son was only 3 months old when we rushed to the emergency room for the first time after giving him his first taste of “infant formula” - but, think it unfortunate when the parents of children with allergies try and control what other children can eat. After all, you can never totally control the environment.</p>
<p>Even on planes that do not serve peanuts, one cannot be assured that the person in the seat before you didn’t eat them. Or someone did not bring the on board or consume them on the concourse before boarding. </p>
<p>I have a good friend whose son is not only deathly allergic to milk and soy, but aso beef, pork, and wheat. He reacts if he inhales a cracker crumb or someone eating cheese touches his skin. Nuts and Nut Butters are one of the very few sources of protein he can eat. His health would have been severly compromised by the intitution of “anti-nut” policies at school.</p>
<p>Chipper, I have a son who had similar allergies to your child, but it is no longer an issue. We experimented with many formulas and S was put on a special formula that we called liquid gold (b/c of cost). We, too, ended up in the ER a couple of times. We sat in many an allergist’s waiting room experimenting with foods that S could eat, and could not eat. I agree with you about trying to control others. It is just an impossible, and unrealistic task. The fact is that schools, parties, and the world in general, are just not going to be free of peanuts/nuts.</p>
<p>Which is why I think it is absurd to ask entire schools to be “peanut free”, when the allergen can be spread just by way of a cutting board, that a different sandwich was cut on, or a nearby knife…</p>
<p>I found this policy very difficult myself, and taking it to the step of no baked goods at all, for any school function (our school’s “solution”), seemed way over the top. I am all for protecting the health and welfare of kids, and am very sympathetic to allergies, but I think these are unrealistic and unreasonable expectations.</p>