Peanut ban in school?

[Autumn2004]

i still don't get it. so, now if you eat a lot of something when you're young, your body starts 'rejecting' it...?? since when?? what about poorer nations where the kids grow us eating mainly one kind of food, how come they don't start rejecting it? i ate tons of peanut butter growing up, but i suppose no more than your average kid. and my body's not rejecting it. is it because young kids' systems are so overwhelmed with all the chemical crap that everyone's pouring in our environment that they have become super-sensitive to everything? how sad.
so, have any studies been done to see what kinds of kids are most suseptible to this kind of thing? suburban, rural or urban? ethnic background? breast-fed or non? raised on soy formula? raised in a healthy environment or one filled with lots of chemicals (new homes, new carpet, etc.. not a lot of fresh air) etc. etc........???

Basically in a nut shell our food system is tainted. Even fresh fruits and vegetables are sprayed with highly processed corn to preserve them so they are fresher in the grocery stores, highly processed corn slows down your metabolism among other things- one reason I believe is why we are a fat nation. Gluten in wheat is 10 times stronger than it was 30 years ago, which causes inflammation in the body which triggers autoimmune disorders. Your immune system is weaker when you are younger and triggers an immune response to high allergenic foods. Also if you eat them when you are pregnant you can make your kids susceptible to it. Not just peanuts either. One way to help reduce your risk is avoid foods that cause inflammation and increase foods that reduce inflammation. Above all, avoid highly allergenic foods when you are breastfeeding or pregnant. If your body shows an immune response then its transferred to your babies system.

If you want more information on this pm me, I'd be glad to help I have studied nutrition for years.

 

[Masterj]

Hey genius, another child's running doesn't cause your child's death.

I have seen some of the most lanebrained logic on this post. Seems people are arguing just to argue.

Cal

I totally agree. In fact I am cracking up over the asthma analogy.

 

[calus_3]

WOW....that's totally uncalled for.

You may not agree with this post, but you can't attack the person. Are you always this hostile when people don't agree with you?

Kids have always had allergies. My neighbors children were allergic to practically everything...from dairy products, to strawberries, to peanuts. She did homeschool them when they were young, but eventually, when they were older, they went to public schools. She had to pack their lunch. They knew what they could and could not eat. Yes, there were incidents where they had problems, and the school knew how to deal with these issues.

But it's just not the schools. What about airplanes? Do you think they shouldn't serve dairy products, peanuts, or strawberries? Of course not. What if Johnny has just eaten a peanut butter sandwich and leaves his peanut butter hand print on the handrail at the mall, and little Suzie Q., who is highly allergic comes along and runs her hand across the rail? Then what?

We may disagree on this, but calling other posters names is nasty...and probably against the terms of agreement.

No sorry, I am usually much worse!

Cal

 

[Annie]

Calus, with you calling the people who disagree with you lame-brained and ignorant, I have a feeling your child is going to have more problems than allergies if this is the way you treat others.

 

[luvbeaches]

Calus, with you calling the people who disagree with you lame-brained and ignorant, I have a feeling your child is going to have more problems than allergies if this is the way you treat others.

I agree.

We all seem, for the most part, to agree to disagree on certain issues. But there's no excuse for name-calling when you don't agree with posters.

 

[Julessleuther]

Calus, with you calling the people who disagree with you lame-brained and ignorant, I have a feeling your child is going to have more problems than allergies if this is the way you treat others.

I agree, I think Calus has a feeling of entitlement. My point is that it is your responsibility to take care of your own child. If you had read my earlier posts, you would have seen that my sons school is an successful model of a school that deals with peanut allergies without banning peanuts from campus. It is a childs right to eat peanut butter, as much as it is another childs right to be protected from it. Unless peanut products are made illegal in this country, people have a right to eat them. As a parent of a child with such a severe allergy, it is your responsiblity to protect your child, without violating the rights of others. While I completely sympathize with parents and children of these allergies, I do not feel it is legal for them to dictate what myself or my child consumes. My point is that children with such severe allergies will still be exposed to them, even if peanut products are banned from a campus. If you truly feel your child is in danger then it is YOUR responsibility to protect your child, not the schools or a teachers, who may not even know of every danger. If my husband eats a cookie that contains peanut oil (unbeknownst to him) and then touches my son, who in turn goes to school and touches someone with a peanut allergy, who then has a reaction, would you hold my husband liable? Ridiculous. I am extremely protective of my son, but I know I cannot protect him from every danger in the world. I teach him of the dangers, take every precaution, and pray that he will be okay. No matter what I say, you will not understand my point. You obviously feel entitlement and that everyone should cater to your child alone. Your child is not the only person in this world with severe allergies and dangers.

 

[Kymistry35]

No sorry, I am usually much worse!

Cal

ITA!

 

[Nore]

But Cal, that isn't what I mean at all. I would do anything I could, and have, as a teacher, and a mom, to protect allergic kids. It's not just peanuts, either, there are other allergens. Bees get in my classroom, for example. That is life-threatening to many, one of my students, in fact. It's just that we can't expect a ban will make our kids' environment risk-free. It won't. It just won't. I used to hope for "risk-free" for my stepson. It has been more empowering and valuable for us to forget about asking for accomodations.

I do NOT mean we shouldn't do anything. But a ban will only create a false sense of security, imo. Unless we outlaw peanuts altogther and that wouldn't even work, there would be a black market (I can just see it - peanut butter dealers on every street corner, near the schools).

Eve

----------
Eve, i would just like to say "thank you".Our boy is in 1st grade now.His teachers have been so caring! Since he was 12 mos.we have instilled the allergy to peanuts and eggs.Johnny knows for the most part what he can have.The snack problem at school is no problem.Mrs.Patton (his teacher) has a bag of snacks we have sent.When the kids have snacks she chooses one of his.She has phoned my granddaughter to ask about a sucker etc.is it ok? Johnny carries his lunch from home,has purell and washes his hands often.In so many ways she takes good care of him and we tell her how we appreciate her "special time".This world needs more people like you and Mrs.Patton.We need more people with love and compassion.One never knows when all of a sudden we could be the one needing a watchful eye.A childs life is worth more than a P.B. sandwich.We are fortunate in that Johnnys is not an air borne allergy.

 

[IrishMist]

And, fortunately, the VAST majority of peanut allergies are NOT airborne!

But, while we are banning PB&J sandwiches, there are a couple of other foods we would also have to ban:

Sources of peanut allergens
Peanuts are widely used in Western and Oriental cooking. Foods which often contain peanuts or peanut products include the following:

1.Baked goods
2.Biscuits
3.Cereals
4.Chinese dishes
5.Crackers
6.Egg rolls
7.Ice creams
8.Health bars
9.Health bread
10.Indonesian dishes
11.Kebabs
12.Marzipan
13.Mixed nuts
14.Pastry
15.Peanut oil
16.“Natural” flavouring
17.Peanut butter
18.Spaghetti sauces
19.Sweets
20.Soups
21.Thai dishes
22.Vegetable fats and oils


From Kids Health dot Org

Here are some to avoid:
-peanut butter, peanuts, and peanut oil
-mixed nuts, candied peanuts, beer nuts, and peanut brittle
-crushed nuts in sauces
-Asian foods (for example, satay and pad thai)
-pesto (an Italian sauce made with nuts)
-health food bars, energy bars, and sports bars
-all cakes and pastries with unknown ingredients, particularly carrot cake, pumpkin cake or pie, and fruit and nut rolls
-bouillon and Worcestershire sauce
-praline and nougat
-muesli and fruited breakfast cereals
-vegetarian casseroles prepared with nuts and some veggie burgers or soy burgers
-prepared salads and salad dressings
-gravy mixes
-candy with nuts (M&Ms, Snickers, Hershey bars with nuts, Hershey almond kisses, salted nut rolls, and others)

 

[reb]

adrienne.. good point and i agree, i think the pet food recall has made a lot of people think about where their food comes from, if they hadn't before.

the rest, could care less-- they just continue to stuff their faces with whatever is greasy, salty, and tastes good!

again, another reason to support your neighborhood oranic farmers market.. that just might be the only food that is safe to eat nowadays. (or, what you grow yourself.)

this is why i make a point to avoid buying the cheaper produce from mexico.. i mean come on,, god only knows what they spray on the food down there. then again, the corporate food industry here hasn't been a lot better-- but at least we have SOME standards! i don't want to eat produce grown in human sewage, thank you very much!

 

[IrishMist]

Some more stuff we'd better ban.

Epipen.com

There are eight types of foods that are accountable for 90% of all food-allergic reactions.7 The foods that most commonly cause anaphylaxis (called allergenic foods) are:

• Peanuts
• Tree nuts (walnuts, pecans, etc.)
• Shellfish
• Fish
• Milk
• Soy
• Wheat
• Eggs

For some people with food allergies, just a taste or even a touch of the foods to which they are allergic can result in any of these symptoms and can set off a chain reaction that takes only minutes to culminate in full-blown anaphylaxis: swelling of the airways, loss of blood pressure, loss of consciousness, shock, and even death.12 This can happen with their first known exposure to a food. There have even been rare cases documented in which inhalation exposure to a food has triggered an anaphylactic reaction.13 The more rapidly symptoms present themselves; the more likely the reaction is to be severe.13

 

[PSUfan]

I haven't made it through the entire thread yet. Just want to make a comment. We are not just talking about peanut butter. We are talking about peanuts.. nuts... Cookies, brownies, things cooked in peanut oil. Banning peanut butter from a school, to protect a childs life is very reasonable, but how can you possibly protect the child from a sneeze? Will they ban peanuts from airline flights? From ballgames? Also, not all parents in an elementary school even pay attention to notes sent home. The responsibility of protecting the allergic child falls on his parents. Not on society, because it is just impossible.

I just asked my daughter about this. She is in highschool, and they do have one student with a bad peanut allergy. They have not banned peanuts. The boy eats lunch in a separate place. My daughter told me that "he has shots to take if he is exposed to peanuts". Awhile back, she had to make a snack for a class, and she made peanut fudge. She never knew that this boy was to be in the same classroom later. The teacher had them wash down all of the desks.

 

[LinasK]

No sorry, I am usually much worse!

Cal

Trust me, he is!

 

[IrishMist]

Trust me, he is!

I'll vouch for that, too.

 

[Taximom]

I found all that. i don't necessarily agree with it. i'm dismayed at how this thread has gone and despite Mabel's post telling us there had been a peanut ban thread a year ago, i had no idea it could get like this.

mea culpa for not posting this on the political pavillion, i suppose.

(my underline)

LOL. I'm tired. I thought there had been a ban here on peanut threads till I read that again.

 

[Floh]

(my underline)

LOL. I'm tired. I thought there had been a ban here on peanut threads till I read that again.

I expect there will be after this one?

 

[reportertype]

Autumn, what foods cause inflammation? I am curious. Also, your comment "in a nutshell" made me laugh.

 

[calus_3]

Trust me, he is!

Yeah, but it is tough love!

Cal

 

[kgeaux]

I haven't read through all the new posts since I was here last, but I've just got to jump in!

It's not Jeanna's law to make. she's only saying what i would believe the majority would say. seriously: if people want peanuts banned entirely, they'll have to get those who make laws on the case.

at the moment it would appear the law says a child DOES INDEED HAVE A RIGHT TO A PB&J SANDWICH.

Floh, I do not believe that we ever, under any circumstances, have the right to do anything that we KNOW will cause grave harm or death to others.

And in this case we are talking about causing grave harm and death to a little child! Where is the compassion?

You know me, I am not in favor of government mandating much but I agree with the ban.

So this isn't just an issue of someone wanting to control the many for the comfort of a few.

The other issue is that my son is so freaking scared of dying, he is overly concerned about it. So there have been a couple incidents where the bully in the class has touched his arm with peanut butter. Yet another reason to ban it because kids will be kids. Had my son been more allergic like some, that could have possibly killed him.

Cal

snipped your post a little. Peanut allergies are KNOWN to suddenly escalate. One exposure, stuffy nose. Next exposure, hives. Some people stop there, but in some, the next exposure is anaphylactic shock, which is DEADLY. Hopefully your son's allergy will not escalate, but watch carefully! God Bless.

That darn bully should be suspended. Did your son report him? Was he disciplined? Educated as to the possible consequences of his actions? What a little jerk, huh?

increased exposure predisposes one to an allergy. For instance, in asia a RICE allergy is one of the most common severe allergies. In the US, peanut butter is an extremely common allergy.

Do you happen to know the percentage of people in which the allergy is so severe it is deadly?

I am diabetic and peanut butter is one of my mainstays. it is one thing I can eat that won't raise my sugar and I eat a little every day.

Annie, have you tried cashew butter, soy butter or almond butter? They are all very good, and the soy butter tastes just like peanut butter. Maybe they would work as well, and allow you a little variety!

I cannot believe how many people think a PB& J is an essential element of childhood. We are talking life and death here. Some of you think nothing of a one-strike law against anyone who exhibits the slightest tendency towards pedophilia to save a child's life, but banning peanut products from school to do the same thing is OVER THE TOP!!! Are you kidding??? This is not comparable to other allergies. I don't know of any other allergies that are this sensitive, dangerous, or common and rapidly growing.

A child has the right to an education in as mainstream an environment as possible. It is illegal and morally wrong to tell them to homeschool him just because of an allergy, just as it would be to tell them to homeschool a child with a disability just b/c it's too much trouble. Can you imagine telling parents of an autistic child or a child with cerebral palsy, "Oh, sorry, we can't deal with that. You should just homeschool him." If the school did that you would be crucifying them here.

I'm really disappointed to read some of these comments. They surprise me.

Thank you, dear. I've snipped your post a bit, but your points deserve to be made again. We are talking life and death. And no child should have to face the threat of death every day simply because of his classmates choice of snack!

For goodness sakes, people, feed your kids peanut butter at home! Their lives will not come to a screeching halt if they can't have it at school.....but their friend's life just might.

 

[kgeaux]

I really should have quit reading. But like seeing a train wreck, I just couldn't turn away.

. It's not just peanuts, either, there are other allergens. Bees get in my classroom, for example. That is life-threatening to many, one of my students, in fact.

I do NOT mean we shouldn't do anything. But a ban will only create a false sense of security, imo.
Eve

Eve, the difference in your example is that no one has deliberately, on purpose, introduced the bee into the classroom KNOWING A CHILD COULD DIE. Now if you or one of the other students were to bring a bee or two into the room and let it fly around a child who could die if stung.....THEN your example is applicable.

And believe me, Eve, if your child had a peanut allergy, no way would a ban at school create a "false sense of security." Parents of a child with a life threatening allergy will probably never, ever again have a sense of security, real or false.

My daughter has always gone to schools that have nut restrictions, either the entire school or specific classrooms. It has never bothered me. There are plenty of food choices that are nut-free. It is no big deal to me to work around the whole thing.

It could however, be a big deal to a child with a nut allergy. I would never, ever forgive myself if I sent something in my child's lunch that hurt or killed another child. Giving up nut products for a few hours is such a small price for me and my child to pay to keep another child as safe as possible.

Thank you, Jaxi. A tone of reason, just when I had about given up.

Well, my son eats peanut butter at home, gets a trace of it on his sleeve, I make him wash, brush, floss, fluff and buff, but I miss the sleeve. He plops himself down next to your Nutter, maybe even puts his arm around him or wrestles around at recess..

Need I say more?

Eve

Yes, I think you could say more. Do you see the difference between KNOWINGLY sending your child to school with peanut butter and ACCIDENTALLY overlooking a trace amount on a sleeve? There is a HUGE difference, Eve.

Nobody is saying that a ban means chit won't happen. But it means it won't happen on purpose. It means most parents will band together, lovingly caring about the life of the child with the life threatening allergy.

I agree, I think Calus has a feeling of entitlement. My point is that it is your responsibility to take care of your own child.

And wanting to protect his child from exposure to the allergen while the child is supposedly in a safe atmosphere at school is NOT taking responsibility to take care of his child?

Come on, Jules. I betcha YOU have a big, fat sense of entitlement, too. Don't you feel entitled to have a safe school experience for your child? I know I sure have that sense of entitlement. Wouldn't you move heaven and earth to ensure your child's safety if you saw a threat to his/her LIFE?? I know I would.

People, again: We are talking life and death. Try to balance that with a stupid PB sandwich! Shouldn't LIFE win???