Posted on 01/04/2005 7:54:07 AM PST by TheBigB
YORKTOWN, Ind. — Savannah Dowling is a typical 8-year-old girl; much of her protein comes from peanut butter sandwiches.
However, if she wants to bring one to Central Indiana's Pleasant View Elementary School, she has to eat it at a special table in the cafeteria to accommodate one first grader with a severe allergy. Soon she'll have to take her lunch to an area the school is calling the "peanut gallery" so the one child with the peanut allergy isn't affected.
"I don't think everybody should have to suffer because of one kid," said Mike Raper, a critic of the idea and fiancé of Savannah's mother. "I think it's a terrible precedent. Basically, because there's nowhere to draw the line. You've got people allergic to milk, wheat. My own son's diabetic. There's just no where to draw that line."
School Superintendent Mary Ann Irwin called it "one of the most challenging" accommodations the school has made for its students.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
THATS BECASOSE GORGE W BUSH WASNT PRESIDINT!!!!!!!!!!!!
Peanut allergies are serious and some kids can have major reactions (i.e. life threatening reactions) from the slightest contact to peanuts.
I think they are going a bit far. But there should be a concerted effort to keep the allergic kids away from potential exposure.
I agree with you. I don't think this is a case of "political correctness" gone crazy, but rather, an attempt by the school to avoid a major lawsuit if anything happened to this kid. It's a tough call.
Yes, that would make much more sense. That's probably why they aren't doing it.
I hadn't thought of that.
The man is pure evil...
/sarcasm
Imagine it is YOUR child! Would you send them to instant death by sending them to a public school where peanuts might be served or would you homeschool them where you can control their exposure?
Still an over-reaction, imo ... not that the school isn't being dopey.
You beat me to it. It was the staple in the late 50s and early 60s and I sure don't recall many writhing bodies on the floor or ER. Maybe peanut allergy is somehow related to ADD which also didn't seem to exist in my youth.
They should segregate the allergic child. If this is a problem for his mommy, then perhaps she can teach the child not to eat anything from others because of his/her allergy.
I'm sick of this minority rule BS, and I'm sick of the phrase "for the sake of the children".
"How do they plan to protect this child for day-to-day
living?"
There's a simple answer. As with anything else in life (you know, crossing the street, walking to school by yourself, handling money, etc.), very young children are much less able to fend for and protect themsleves than are older children. In the case of my friend, their child was very well insulated in elementary school but now in high school takes care of the problem herself. Just as with anything else with children, you give them more trust and responsibility as they get older. This is how life is.
Fine, so have a "Peanut Free" area in the cafeteria, problem solved. Whay have the inverse? This child will not go through life with his/her path being cleared before him/her of peanuts, just better get used to it.
If my daughter had allergies severe enough that common precautions to avoid it were not enough, I would not send her to public school. And yes, it is that simple.
I do not believe that it is societies responsibility to bend over for my needs.
I was in grade school in the 80's and don't remember ever hearing of anyone with a peanut allergy either. I still don't know anyone with one as an adult.
I loooooove peanuts and peanut butter, but for the last year or so I haven't been able to eat it AT ALL!! Even food cooked in peanut oil! Makes me very ILL!! And I am in my 30's!! My sis developed a shellfish allergy this way too!!
"No need to drag everyone else down to do it. Just elevate."
My point exactly. The last thing the kid probably wants is to inconvienience the whole school. I understand he is not a true "special needs" child but the school sure is treating him as one and in the process teaching him that special considerations will always be given to him because of an allergy to a food.
Instead of making a pansy out of the kid and leading him to believe that the world will bend to accomodate his every need, I say they teach the kid to get along in the real world where a peanut allergy gets you squat.
That's NOT how the nanny SOCIALIST STATE works comrade!
The many sacrifice for the one.
However, if she wants to bring one to Central Indiana's Pleasant View Elementary School, she has to eat it at a special table in the cafeteria to accommodate one first grader with a severe allergy. Soon she'll have to take her lunch to an area the school is calling the "peanut gallery" so the one child with the peanut allergy isn't affected.
I've always felt that if a person is exposed to what they are allergic to, he/she will eventually develop an immunity to it. So shouldn't that one kid be fed peanut butter for his own good?
It must depend on the school district then. My daughter is in 8th grade and buys her lunch every day. She says that PB&J is offered every day as one of the food selections. When I was in school I lived on PB&J. That and bologna.
My question is, has the school ensured that ALL products served by the school AND brought to the school, besides PB&Js, are peanut and peanut oil free - guaranteed produced and packaged in a peanut free environment?
Peanut oil and peanut exposure is quite common in a lot of food products. Protecting the allergic child should be done by eating in another location. What about contact with peanut/peanut oil product eaters at recess? Who is policing that problem? Does the school have anaphylactic shock treatment kits in every room the allergic child sits in?
This seems to be a really haphazard step by the school probably instigated by peanut butter haters.
I would probably try to homeschool, at least in the early years, but I don't know the situation of this child's family.
We had ADD in my day. I was a prime example. We just didn't have Ritalin.
I'm convinced that TV and video games are responsible for worsened ADD. Personal experience only.
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