Re: Peanut and nut and may contain nut ban in public school

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On 8/27/04, Lisa Turner wrote:
> My 5 yr old daughter will be starting school this year. The
> school she will be attending has just issued a ban on all tree
> nuts, sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, fresh fruit
> that contain pits such as peaches, nectarines, cherries and so
> forth. ONE child in the school has peanut allergies.
>
> To the mother of that child, I cant even imagine what it must be
> like to wonder if your child is going to make it thru lunch with
> out getting a severe possibly fatal reaction caused by someone
> else eating a nut containing product. However I feel total ban
> is not the answer.
>
> Its completely impractical to ban these food products from
> coming into the school and blanket bans could actually do more
> harm than good. It could lull the child(ren) in question into a
> false sense of security and make them feel safe in dropping
> their guard, potentially leading that child to exposure of
> dangerous foods.
>
>
> I would think educating the child and the children immediately
> around him would do a much better job of protecting them against
> reactions. To rely on the vigilance of others to screen the
> product that they send to school with their children would scare
> me more if I were a parent of a nut allergic child.
>
> With that being said. I am the mother of a nonallergic child and
> why does my child need to suffer because ONE child has an
> allergy. I understand it is a severe allergy that could kill in
> seconds, but if a child reacts that badly, I believe they should
> not be put in a public school and made the responsiblity of
> everyone.

I am a teacher and I have a daughter that is severly allergic to peanuts. I am in awe that you
are a mother at all. Have you no compassion? Believe me, you will when you watch your
daughter in ICU after a severe reaction to peanuts. Is your child truely going to "suffer"
because they can't have peanut products for lunch? I am intrepreting your post to say that
the death of one child is justified, because the other children will "suffer" without PB & J for
lunch, 180 days out of the year. Maybe I'm selfish. You're right. Your child being forced to
go without peanut products from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm every school day, far outweighs the
price that another child will pay after your child touches them. GET EDUCATED! You are not
worth my time.