School bans nuts because of one student's allergy
 

School Goes Nut-Free For One Student
Child's Allergy Is Life-Threatening

BANGOR, Maine -- There will be no more peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches or franks and beans at one school district in Maine.

The lunch menu is being changed for the safety of a highly allergic child.

The Miller School in Waldoboro also told parents not to send children to school with anything containing peanuts, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, sesame seeds or legumes such as dried peas and beans.

Several students at the school are allergic to those foods, but one child's sensitivity is life-threatening.

The superintendent said the child could have a severe reaction simply by smelling the breath of someone who has eaten one of those foods.

An allergy specialist at Eastern Maine Medical Center said such allergies are on the rise because of an increasingly nut-rich American diet.




The local news website I got this from has a survey on whether people think this is fair, and I was surprised to see that an overwhelming majority said it's not. So I'm just curious to see what other GCers think about this. Do you think it's fair to ban nuts, beans, etc. because of a single student? I would say that it's not... but if it's true that the child could have a severe reaction to just smelling the breath of someone that has eaten them, then I would say yes it is fair.

I think his parents need to buy him one of these.

http://www.jakegyllenhaal.com/images/bubble.jpg

I doubt if when this child goes to high school, college or a job that these type of provisions will be made for him.

I have heard of schools banning peanut butter, but not to the extent of that.

True. Yeah, he probably needs to learn to just deal.

My sisters school is like this due to a boy with a life-threatening allergy. The rational is that they have to protect the childs health while he is not mature enough to protect it himself. As he gets older, he'll learn how to protect himself from such allergies (eg wearing a face mask at all time) but at the age of 4,5,6,7... he's not going to understand why he has to. In that sense I can understand the restriction as long as it is only for as long as it is deem that he is too immature to protect himself fully.

Well crap... if they are going to ban nuts, they should ban sodas and anything containing high amounts of sugar because some juvenille diabetic may die from temptation. ARGH!

Along those lines...what about all those candy products that have the warning on the label "made on the same equipment that processes nuts".

I have mixed feelings about this. I think this child should eat his lunch in another location, say the nurse's office, and then join his classmates afterwards for recess. If it were my child, that is what I would request. The allergy is no laughing matter, but to penalize the whole school for one child's needs....you know the "needs of the one out weigh the needs of the whole"?

People with nut allergies can have them triggered just by breathing dust with nut particles in it. Even if the kid were in a different room, nut dust will travel through the vents. It's a little extreme but it's not like they had to ban it just because this kid couldn't keep his mitts off his friend's food.

Some children have allergies so bad such that even if there was no residul smell (smells can trigger the reaction) - the mere presence of nut on a doorhandle, sink, piece of chalk, toy etc etc could trigger the allergy.

This child is always going to have severe risks in public - no doubt he/she will always have an epi pen nearby (and it can't be stressed enough that epi pens delay the reaction not stop it!). The idea is to minimize the risk to the child.

One of my friend's has a son who is about 8 years old. He is severely allergic to nuts. She has chosen to homeschool him until he is old enough to know what he can and cannot eat.

Anyone know if this is an ADA issue? I don't know enough about it to know.

These kids need to be exposed to it more so they'll be less sensitive. If I was the principal, every kid would had peanut butter spread on them.

-Rudey

I agree with whom said it above....You can't change everything for 1 student. There are a lot of students that have allergies and they have to just learn to cope and function in society. Maybe it is best to home school until the child learns what they can and can not do. Recently in the Roseville, CA area a little girl that was allergic to the sun was placed in public school. The school had to retro fit some of the rooms with windows that don't allow the harmful rays into the class room.
Every child has the right to an education and if that education can't be provided by the local puclic school then that school is responsible for arrangements for that child. Some schools opt to pay out for the child to go to special schools but some opt to make changes to accomdiate the child

ETA: My husband works for Macadamia nut company and he received a call from a mother the other day regarding whether she could feed her son who was severly allergic to "nuts" macadamia nuts. HMMMMM.....I wonder????

I never heard of it that extreme ,but i am allergic to nuts and if i have them or anything related to them in foods or alone my toungue swells to the point air passage to breath is cut off. I never have had a problem if someone was sitting next to me having nuts affect me like above , but once i do have them it aint pretty.

I can say that about strawberries and avacados and some other veggies and fruit.

Let's rub the kids with nuts.

-Rudey
--This sounds awful.