Posted on 08/30/2007 6:42:03 AM PDT by TornadoAlley3
BRANDON, S.D. (AP) Mom's brownies and other homemade goodies have been banned from grade schools in the Brandon-Valley School District.
The ban is intended to protect kids who are allergic to nuts.
The "no shared treats" policy means no more suckers, cookies or even apples. And it means shared treats will not be allowed at Halloween, Christmas and Valentine's parties in grade-school classrooms.
School district officials say the ban will be strictly enforced.
Although the district no longer allows shared treats in elementary schools, students may bring their own snacks from home.
The ban does not apply to Brand Valley middle school and high school classes.
Do you expect the same of a four or five year old? Well, of course: surely they have the competence and judgment as you in ensuring their safety around potentially deadly items. I mean, what child eats things that he isn't supposed to?
The scenario you paint is extremely extreme and a complete red herring.
Although you may say so, the fact of the matter is that peanut allergies account for the vast, vast majority of allergy deaths each year.
Again, if the person is this seriously impaired, they shouldn’t be walking the streets let alone going to a PUBLIC school. And I would think someone with this type of allergy would KNOW they had it. A person so afflicted should be in a special setting until they can be treated or cured, and not running around in the general population expecting everyone else to look out for them.
If the kid is that ill, his parents should NOT send him to a PUBLIC school.
This is rediculous. I have an illness, so, everyone else should have to change their lives for me.
Stupidity.
I would hope that we wouldn't be required to discuss such a simple-minded analogy. But fine. What does other children's outdoor activities have to do with your child's bee allergy? The answer is nothing; other children can play outside without creating a potentially deadly threat to your child.
Other children bringing peanut snacks to school, however, can trigger a potentially deadly reaction in a fellow student, regardless of the precautions that he may take to avoid the peanuts, even assuming that the child has the mental capacity to understand that he should avoid peanuts.
Perhaps a reasonable solution depending on the severity of the allergies of the particular students. It is worth noting, however, that many foods that do not contain peanuts are processed in the same machines that also handle peanuts. These "non-peanut" snacks can be equally dangerous.
Look, I'm not saying that this should be uniform policy; in fact, it probably should be extremely limited in its application. But depending on the severity of a child's allergy, I'm just saying that this isn't necessarily overreacting.
And, as a final reminder to everyone, peanuts are not nuts.
Madness!
Both my husband and daughter have nut allergies and they took responsibility for their ownselves when they were in school or on any other situations.
For those kids who are being ‘protected’ in those schools —— what about when they are in life situations, like college, offices, sport crowds, on a crowded bus or just walking down a street? How about eating in a restaurant or even take out restaurants? And NEVER go into a supermarket!!!!!
Yes it seems to be more prevalent now than years ago, but how about finding the cause. Use of plastics? The wrong additive mix? Chemicals in food?
For better or for worse, most states are required to educate children. Still waiting for a solution. Anyone?
OR
is this class envy excuses...
Perhaps some busy body does not like the notion of someone being able to share with others. Sharing must come from the government.
There is just no way to render the world absolutely safe for every child everywhere. Even if schools do institute a ban on peanuts, how do they enforce it? By posting a peanut-sniffing dog at every entrance? And since most children don’t outgrow peanut allergies, what happens after graduation? The best way to deal with peanut allergies isn’t by outlawing the crunchy little legumes—which are an excellent source of protein—but by doing some homework and taking a few crucial precautions to lessen the risk of injury.
You may be surprised to learn that the Food Allergy Network, a seven-year-old advocacy group based in Fairfax, Va., agrees. “Peanut bans don’t work,” says Ann Munoz-Furlong, founder of the network. “They’re counterproductive, and they create a false sense of security.” She favors teaching kids what to do in case of an allergic reaction (children with the most severe reactions need to carry emergency adrenaline shots with them) and to beware of peanut products hidden in such foods as home-baked cookies and Chinese takeout. Most of the major candy-bar manufacturers already label even trace amounts of peanuts.
That doesn’t mean that schools should do nothing to accommodate students with allergies. A handful of institutions have designated peanut-free tables in their cafeterias and trained teachers and others to give adrenaline shots in an emergency. In the meantime, doctors are working on a vaccine-like treatment that might dampen the immune system’s overreaction. Until then, all the peanut-free zones in the world can’t diminish the need to teach children with allergies to take care of themselves.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,989243,00.html?promoid=googlep
>>For better or for worse, most states are required to educate children. Still waiting for a solution. Anyone?<<
I gave it to you.
Homeschool the highly allergic child.
To me, this is a no-brainer.
Then how do they expain the school board's presence?
I’m in total agreement with you.
Accomodating one, at the inconvenience of all others, is not a very good lesson to be teaching young children.
“Oh, I see, we just force everyone on his route to give up all nuts to accomodate him.
This is insane.”
I have a kid with pretty serious food allergies. It is a pain in the neck but I don’t ask anything from the school district except that they don’t give my child food of any kind. I don’t care who brings what to school but no food of any kind can be given to my child. If that makes me insane then I guess I am.
“And one more thing, if this ONE KID is so terribly allergic, he should be in a SPECIAL SCHOOL.”
I have no problem with that. If the school district finds that it is too much to ask that they not give my kid food then they can refund me the $5,000 in property tax I paid last year that went to funding the school district and then refrain from taxing me for schools in the future.
You didn’t even read his post, did you?
Hey Lady!
It’s not a good lesson.
And why a parent would trust a school with their Highly allergic child’s life, is beyond me.
Could you imagine sending your daughter off to a public school and not being sure whether, first the ban was 100% effective and second that if there was a reaction, that people would do the right thing?
Too scary for me. When Net was in school, I sent her with DEET spray. The playground was covered with mulch that held the water and bred mosquitoes. Soon, I was told by the administration that they would not spray her. Either I came in and did it or she didn’t go out. I got a long acting spray and did it in the mornings. She wore pants just for extra protection. (and she smelled just lovely!)
I also taught them that they could not go outside unless they were sprayed. Now they remind me. We can even camp.
Now could you imagine if I asked that all mulch was removed and replaced with something else to accomodate her? Right. That is totally unreasonable.
You are deliberately distorting the issue.
Forbidding anyone from giving your children food is on thing.
And that is NOT an issue here.
Here, they have BANNED foods FROM EVERYONE to accomodate ONE KID.
There is a big difference in the two. I hope you see it.
>>If the school district finds that it is too much to ask that they not give my kid food then they can refund me the $5,000 in property tax I paid last year that went to funding the school district and then refrain from taxing me for schools in the future.<<
*snicker*
I don’t even send my kids to school.
I’ve paid property taxes since 1989 and never used the public schools.
You’re not seeing a dime back either.
I too know of ONE person and they take care of themselves just fine.
I think this is a result of a few hysterical mothers. Who want to be SUPERmaternal as the pose for the world. “LOOK AT ME, I care more about my child than you care for your child. LOOK LOOK LOOK!!!!”
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