One 5-year-old's allergy leads to class peanut ban [lunch searches?????]

SF Chronicle ^

[Sub-Driver]

An East Bay elementary school's ban on peanut butter sandwiches and other nut products in its kindergarten classes has some parents questioning whether school district administrators overreacted to concerns for one allergic child.

At the center of the storm is a 5-year-old boy enrolled at Valle Verde Elementary School in Walnut Creek. He suffers from "peanut and tree nut" allergies that his mother says are life-threatening.

[Adder]

So why can't the child with the peanut allergy be excluded...why is everyone ELSE jumping thru hoops? Thats upside down and bs. The kid that had the problem should have the onus, not everyone else.

[TexasCajun]

Better to inconvenience a thousand than to inconvenience one, I guess.

Don't you know it is his 'right' to nut-free education!

Maybe the govment can start a nut-free school like the hetrosexual-free school started in NY??

[Chancellor Palpatine]

I once talked to one woman that was deathly allergic to pretty much every vegetable and every grain. Compounding it was an allergy to fish. About all she could eat was beef, pork, chicken and potatoes in small amounts.

[Koblenz]

Maybe if the school district had one kindergarten class in the district for kids with allergies, that'd be best for everyone. Or better yet, allow parents to use vouchers so they could send their kids to a private school or another public school that had a no-peanut policy. But at the moment, I can't really fault the school for taking peanut stuff from the other kids: 5 year olds really don't know better about sharing their lunches. And this kid could die from peanut allergies. I'm surprised there's no medicine that would combat this. After all, we got medicines that make bald guys grow hair or make their penises bigger. So why can't we have an anti-peanut med?

[Cobra64]

"The parents of other kindergarten students were informed of the situation in a letter from school officials, who decreed that "all kindergarten students will begin the day by washing hands with soap and water . . . supervised by classroom staff."

The next step is to have the kids brush their teeth and wash their hair; under adult supervision of course.

[SoothingDave]

Clearly, there's no evidence that an allergic reaction is triggered merely by being in the same room with peanut butter -- you have to eat it. So, there's no reason to ban peanut butter in kid's lunches -- as long as those kids with peanut allergies can be trusted not to accept food from anyone else.

One kid eats a peanut butter sandwich. Being a kid, some residue remains on his hands. He touches a chair. The peanut oil is on the chair. The allergic child touches the same chair and then touches his mouth.

That's enough. My wife has seen a teen who went into a coma from eating brownies. They had no nuts in them, but the pan had been used before to make peanut butter cookies and and when it was washed not all of the peanut oil got removed.

SD

[Koblenz]

People that are allergic to so many things usually have some psychological issue. I think John Stossel had a report about some people who supposedly were allergic to everything.

[twigs]

Not everyone has the ability to homeschool. I don't know why this peanut allergy is a problem now when it wasn't years ago, but it is and it is deadly. My neighbor nearly lost her baby when someone put diaper creme on him while changing his diaper. Ironically, he was in the hospital at the time getting tests. That's how they discovered his allergy and had he not been there, he would probably have died. As much as I don't like to see the concerns of the one affect everyone, this time it is legit. Your child can enjoy his P & J at home.

[meowmeow]

I had multiple food allergies that were identified when I started kindergarten. I knew what I was supposed to eat and what I wasn’t and I always asked what was in things and declined if the answer wasn’t clear. My parents taught me how to handle my situation. We never expected anyone to sanitize anything just for me. I was always the one to make the concessions. Of course, my parents weren't liberal.

[meowmeow]

I had multiple food allergies that were identified when I started kindergarten. I knew what I was supposed to eat and what I wasn’t and I always asked what was in things and declined if the answer wasn’t clear. My parents taught me how to handle my situation. We never expected anyone to sanitize anything just for me. I was always the one to make the concessions. Of course, my parents weren't liberal.

[EggsAckley]

About all she could eat was beef, pork, chicken and potatoes in small amounts

Yum! Sounds good to ME! ~</;o)

[meowmeow]

D'oh! Itchy trigger finger.

[BSunday]

People with peanut allergies don't have to ingest it to get ill. Merely touching the oil will make some very sick.

Well, then I guess the logical thing to do would be to teach the kid TO NOT TOUCH OTHER PEOPLE'S FOOD!!

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Twenty-five years ago they used to know how to handle these situations.

[Elvis van Foster]

I personally don't want to see peanut products banned from schools. But there needs to be intensive training for staff that deals with pre-teens. The same goes for restaurant staff.

[CIB-173RDABN]

Peanut alergies are brutal, shot of having a peanut free shcool somewhere in the district there is not much you can do. You do understand it could kill this kid..

---

It is difficult discussing this subject without seeming to be heartless, but..the truth is, life is dangerous.

I do not think I want to live in a 100% safe world, would you?

I think most posters are of the opinion, the kid has a problem, one that will be with him for the rest of his life. He better learn to live with it, or it will kill him.

First solution, the kid does not eat anything from anyone else (that would have prevented the kid mentioned earlier of dying after eating a cookie someone gave him.)

As I said, the problem is his, he best learn to live with it. Harsh yes, but it would be better for his survival then depending on the trust of stangers.

[MEGoody]

I know that peanut allergies for some can be deadly. But frankly, this sounds like an EXCELLENT opportunity for this child's parents to undertake homeschooling.

[BSunday]

This is a case of the boy in the bubble in reverse. The bubble is placed on the outside world.

[Kozak]

Dust mites won't kill your child, lady.

Oh really? So no one ever dies of a severe asthama attack?

Sorry but kids this allergic to nuts should either be home schooled or in some controlled setting that doesn't turn the rest of shcool into what amounts to a hospital ward or prison. The other kids have a right to a childhood too.

[MrsEmmaPeel]

Most people just don't understand the seriousness of the problem.

Count me in as one of those, because I don't get it. I know people who are so badly allergic to bee stings they can die if stung -- do we ban bees?

Yes, it is sad that there are people that have strong reactions to things, but why does the kneejerk response involve me changing my behavior? Why can't they change theirs?

If you are saying that there is absolutely no cure and no treatment for this peanut butter allergy, I'm sorry but I don't believe you.