Posted on 09/27/2007 2:22:06 PM PDT by UKrepublican
Boy with nut allergy banned from school because he is a 'health and safety risk'
Like anyone with a nut allergy, George Hall-Lambert had always assumed it was the food that caused the problem – not him.
His new school didn't agree. Concerned that none of the staff was trained to cope if the 11-year-old had an allergic reaction, the headmaster banned him – on health and safety grounds.
George, who was diagnosed with a nut allergy at 18 months, carries an emergency adrenaline injection, known as an EpiPen, and wears a medical tag to alert carers to his condition.
When he began at Howden School in East Yorkshire, his mother informed the comprehensive about the allergy.
A file with medical notes was forwarded from his primary.
If the boy went into severe anaphylactic shock it could render him unconscious and he would need assistance using the EpiPen.
He had been at school for only four days when the head summoned his mother for a meeting.
He told her George must go home as no policies were in place to deal with his condition.
Judith Hall-Lambert, who has three other children, said: "Howden School is saying nobody could take charge of his EpiPen because staff don't know how to use it.
"They won't let him back in school until everything has been sorted out and he is classed as safe.
"If he went back now they say he would be a health and safety risk."
George, who was near the top of his class in his SATs tests, is receiving 15 hours a week tuition at home.
But Mrs Hall-Lambert, 37, of Eastrington, near Goole, added: "George is being discriminated against because he has a nut allergy.
"He is a bright kid and this could set back his education."
She dismissed an offer for him to attend the inclusion unit at the school, as it is predominantly for children with behavioural problems.
"George is well-behaved and there is no reason for him to be in that unit.
"He is entitled to a mainstream education like everyone else," she added.
East Riding of Yorkshire Council said arrangements had been made to send him to school full-time, but his mother had decided not to send him.
"The school is following guidance from the local authority and the Government in ensuring that George can access his entitlement to education in a safe environment."
Head Andrew Williams said staff were working towards an acceptable solution.
"My main concern is to ensure that we meet the health and welfare needs of all students in our care."
Aren't we all?
nuts = liberals
Forcing the student body to stop eating or using nut products is absurd.
Also, if my kid goes to the same school, the s**t hits the fan, because he has a disease which necessitates that he must eat nuts all day.
No wonder the kid couldn't escape contsant exposure to those "nuts" in school.
I think this is very leftist. It is most appropriate to train the school's staff to react appropriately to an emergency situation, then allow the boy to attend with the understanding that boy's problems are ultimately his own.
Everyone should not be made to suffer for one person's inability to cope any more than the whole of society should be barred the possession of weapons because a very tiny minority of the citizens are dangerous.
The true solution is to kill all lawyers and return to the rule of common sense. Fat chance, I know.
It’s about time!!!!!!
Reading stories about all the USA schools banning peanut butter because of a single kids allergy is insane.
Glad to see someone has some sense, too bad we have to jump the pond to find it.
There’s an idea. One of our children is allergic to aspirin/ibuprofen. I wonder if we can get aspirin-free flights. heh.
It is really hard for our son to safely participate in sports these days because so many folks think they must slather themselves with sports creams that contain pain killers.
>>”The school is following guidance from the local authority and the Government in ensuring that George can access his entitlement to education in a safe environment.”<<
Absolutely chilling.
I count seven socialist buzz words.
Makes more sense than banning eveyone else’s diet because of ONE kid, like here in US. Here in some schools, you can’t have a peanut butter sandwich if one kid has an allergy.
It'll make ordinary Celiac feel like a garden party in comparison.
So, watch for those words: "dough conditioner" and "alpha amylase", and, also "extract of white kidney bean".
I fail to see the sense in this, myself. I think the child and his parents bear the full responsibility of whatever happens as long as the school staff can respond like adults in the unlikely event of an emergency. This condition should have no other impact on the rest of the student body nor on the school. The boy and the family can then decide if those "risks" are something with which they can cope.
It should not be necessary for everyone to take care of everyone else, outside normal limits of ordinary civility.
Well, *my* kid is being discriminated against because the school has totally eliminated peanut products from all the classrooms! I think this stuff is going too far BOTH ways!
That sounds good in theory, but in the real world of today, is not what will happen. If he gets sick or dies, the parents WILL blame the school and sue them.
I was wondering about the same thing.
Why does this seem to be such an insurmountable problem?
It would seem to be an easy task for a nurse.
Better than banning peanuts for everyone else.
Now, if we can get them all banned from airlines so we can have our peanuts back.
Ah, but you see, I have been a trial lawyer for nearly 35 years. And my wife has been one for over 30. So, as I am sure you can imagine, I am highly unlikely to agree with you on this particular point.
What you interpret as a leftist response is, instead, a realistic one which allows, and compensates, for the vagaries of the contemporary legal system. Which, I will happily concede, frequently yields results which are idiotic.
By the way, and completely off topic, my wife recently acquire a cat (a Maine Coon), which has been named for the man whom your handle honors.
This is as silly as the school which banned all peanut or peanut butter products because of one kid’s allergy. Just let concerned mother pack little Billy’s lunch for him every day and he takes it to school. If the family can’t afford to pack a lunch, arrangements can be made to help out. Kid’s have been doing this since the very first school. Problem solved wth no fuss to anyone. Why do people make these things so hard?
This is also the reason for "zero tolerance" policies and absurd enforcements thereof. It relieves the employee of potential civil liability which the use of discretion might engender.
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