Big change coming in the chapter house dining room

[hoosier]

On the off-chance one of the school's 1,000 students might see a nut, this common-sense challenged principal ruins lunch for 999 kids.

I can see Dartmount, Alfred, and a few more liberal campuses banning nuts (except on the faculty) in the coming year.

Here's the clipping from Georgia:


The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 8/7/02 ]

It's no joke! Cobb school bans peanuts

By MARY MACDONALD
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer

The classic childhood lunch, a PB&J on white bread, will be confiscated on sight this year at one of Cobb County's elementary schools.

So will peanut butter crackers and cookies, peanut butter cups and anything else containing Georgia's top-selling homegrown snack.

The ban on all things goober is no joke. Several children entering Smyrna's Nickajack Elementary School this year have allergies so severe they are life-threatening, said new Principal Constance Carter. Some people are so allergic that even breathing peanut dust can trigger a reaction.

Carter banned peanut products from the campus, including bake sales and bag lunches carried in by children.

The action is unusual but not unheard of. King Springs Elementary School, also in Smyrna, banned peanut products for similar reasons last year. Teachers and a few schools nationwide have done the same thing for children with severe allergies.

Petra White, a Nickajack mom of two girls, thinks most parents will sympathize.

"It's not like they have to have a peanut butter sandwich three times a week," she said. "I don't have a problem keeping peanuts out of their lunches."

The habit may be hard for other parents to break. Peanut butter is a staple for fussy children and a standby in the lunchroom.

Cafeteria workers rely on it for field trip bags because it's portable protein.

"Peanut butter really is a standard," Carter said.

YOUR TURN
What do you think of the Cobb County school ban on peanut butter?
Given some kids allergic reactions, it’s the right thing to do. 16% 360
This goes too far. Is nothing sacred anymore? 83% 1877
I prefer pimiento cheese, anyway. 1% 33
Total Votes 2270



This survey is not a scientific sampling and does not reflect the opinion of the general public, but only of those who choose to participate.

[33girl]

Originally posted by hoosier
I can see Dartmount, Alfred, and a few more liberal campuses banning nuts

If some of the radical feminists had their way, that would probably have been done long ago.

[mmcline]

I agree with this decision. I lost a cousin 2 years ago from a peanut realted allegery. She attended cobb county schools in fact and in a friends lunch something contained peanuts and she ate it, and ended up dying from the allergic reaction. Its all over the news here in atlanta, and the majority of people are agreeing with this.

[lifesaver]

I have a life-threatening allergy to peanuts and peanut products And ya know, my ass learned at a really young age to watch what I ate. I also learned to be a bit of a detective. Its not hard if you can think. I could do it at 5, so I don't see the reason for it. Its the parents respon. to take care of their own kids, not everyone elses problem.

[KSig RC]

peanut dust?

[Dove Gal]

I have to watch what I eat too. Anything containing peanuts or peanut butter, I would be out on the floor too. It's not a joking matter. if parents know that their child(ren) are allergic to peanuts don't let them eat it.

I can see why they might ban peanuts and peanut butter from school. Say that somene is having a birthday party and that child brings browines with peanuts and peaunt butter cookies. And nothing else to eat. What is the child with the allergic reation to peanuts going to do sit there and watch is fellow classmates eat right in front of them? Yea, it's not fair but they cannot help that they allegic to it. So maybe they wanted to keep that from happening.

I got used to the fact that I can't eat peanut products, but ai had to learn that some parents could careless that I couldn't eat that. So what I started to do was to keep something sweet in my desk that I could eat during that person's birthday. Sometimes the teacher had something too.

[italianaxo]

I used to work at a camp that banned peanuts. Some kids really do have allergies servere enough that if someone across the table was eating a peanut they would have a reaction. I see nothing wrong (or feminist for that matter) with banning peanuts to keep some kids safe. If your child had that severe of an allergy wouldn't you want them to be able to get through the school day without having to worry about breathing the wrong thing?
or would you prefer to keep your peanut butter and risk a child?

[dzsaigirl]

I worked at a Montessori school one summer where they had a rule like that. But only the classroom with the peanut allergic child had that rule (since they eat in their classrooms). There was a big sign on the door. This kid could literally die if he was exposed to your breath and you had eaten peanut butter toast for breakfast...no joke. One time, he actually did have a reaction at school, but that was before I worked there.

As for banning it for the whole school, I can see where htey are coming from. But the fact is, the kids have to learn to live life in the "real world"...the mall, the grocery store, your workplace....none of those places will ever be peanut free.

[KerriMarie]

I work at a resident summer camp that went peanut-free this summer due to allergies. I was bummed at first - as a vegetarian, I eat a LOT of peanut butter, especially while I'm at camp. But I know there are kids that can't even smell the stuff without having a severe reaction, and those kids shouldn't have to miss out on the fun of camp.

Everyone should be able to adjust to this, it will just take more work.

[Little E]

Think about it, when was the last time you had peanuts on an airplane? They used to go hand in hand but now they serve those nasty pretzels. This is why. I work at Culver's (a resturant) and we have signs saying that we have peanuts in the resturant on the doors, so people w/allergies know. The rules go for a lot of nuts. It seems like awareness is being raised for the problem.

Tau Love
Lil E

[AGDLynn]

Update..Peanut-free zones are in; total bans are out. And that's Cobb County peanut policy, in a nutshell.

New principal at one school got a little overzealous and had wanted to ban PB altogether.

((Wonder if that included PBJ Otter?))

[PhiStar]

one of my sisters is allergic to peanuts too.
that would suck, i loved pb & J when i was little.

[Omicron]

Then how come you can't get it off the roof of your mouth?