Children are banned from eating Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches at school

How hilarious....

After this thread HERE about the evil, evil PB&J sandwich, another story comes along equally as ridiculous:

In Viola, Arkansas, a debate is heating up, after a student had his peanut butter and jelly sandwich confiscated at lunchtime. The school has a no-peanut-products policy due to a few students with allergies, so the teacher helped the little boy get a new lunch and sent home a note explaining the situation to his mom. That note didn't go over well, apparently. Soon after the incident, a 'School Nut Ban Discussion' group was launched on Facebook by parents conflicted over the policy.

Full story HERE

What the heck, guys? People need to leave the poor PB&J alone. I put this in social issues because I feel it is one. It's another perfect example of the extremely poor condition our schools are in right now. The administration spends time on so many things they don't have time to do what we hired them for, to EDUCATE our children!

Evidently because a few kids at that school have peanut allergies, NOBODY in the entire school can eat peanut products for lunch? What is the purpose behind this silly rule? I remember way back in school a few children had food allergies. Guess what? The kids would simply not eat the food they were allergic to. The responsibility is on the parents to make sure the child knows they cannot eat certain foods. If a child is too stupid to get the hint, then maybe it's just survival of the fittest at work.

They aren't serving the peanut products for lunch, the kid brought it from home for christ sake. Why cannot he eat the lunch he/his parents want him to eat just because there are a few children that can't eat such food?

This is beyond ridiculous, and sadly it seems stupid crap like this is becoming more and more common.

There is a peanut ban at my kids' school as far as shared snacks (if I brought in goodies for the whole class or something) but not for personal snacks and lunches....yet. My son is picky and a PB&J is the only sandwich he'll eat.

I'm not sure how one child eating a peanut butter sandwich will have any effect on a child who's allergic to peanuts unless part of that sandwich gets in the mouth of the kid with allergies. Can allergies kick in by merely smelling peanut butter?

If someone has a child that's so severely allergic to peanuts that he might have a reaction by someone else eating a PB&J, I would have to say the parent of that child needs to find an alternate lunch area for him to eat at.

I would strongly and quite loudly oppose any kind of a ban like that on my child's personal lunch.

Posted earlier here:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Please add further comments to the ongoing discussion in the above linked thread.
Thanks

**Thread Closed**

sorry, similar products, different events, my apologies.

reply to post by DontTreadOnMe


No problem, at first I was very confused as I searched all sorts of various title names to make sure it wasn't posted already, I thought maybe someone posted during the time I was writing the thread. All cleared up now, thanks for re-opening it.

reply to post by James1982

Thanks for understanding....sorry for the goof.

This ban is so bizarre.

I've often thought that it's not the peanuts that kids are allergic to, but the mold you often see on the shells...and is also likely in small amounts on the peanut itself.
Mold seems to be much more of an issue with people than it used to be.

How about the allergic kids eat in a different room? Or on the other side of the cafeteria? Or use the cafeteria first? I'm sure the concern is cross contamination. Perhaps they should look at their cleanliness issues. I could think of a lot of solutions short of BANNING Mr. Peanut...

But with compromise comes with new problems. Isolating a child at a separate table because of his or her allergies can create social ostracism and lead to bullying.

Ugh! Then punish the BULLIES, not the bullied! Every time I see a story like this, I am thankful that I didn't have kids. The school system is whacked!

reply to post by DontTreadOnMe

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe
Mold seems to be much more of an issue with people than it used to be.

ALL allergies are much more of an issue than they used to be. Our toxic environment is ruining our bodies' natural defenses. Food intolerance is but one of the growing number of "allergies".

reply to post by CoherentlyConfused

Can allergies kick in by merely smelling peanut butter?

Not to my knowledge but mere traces of it can indeed create a reaction. My mother has a nut allergy, peanuts specifically, but there are a few others. We always had peanut butter in the house.

But stop and think for a second, grade school kids are messy, they are, you know they are. If little jimmy is allergic, deathly allergic, to peanuts, you can either attempt to monitor and educate all the kids about proper safety procedures and cleanliness, or just ban the ingredient.

i do think a ban might be a little overboard, but I also think the safety of one child outweighs your right to eat peanuts at school.

reply to post by DontTreadOnMe


I can't speak for all kids, but in relation to my mothers allergy, it's peanuts, something in them. Peanut butter, peanut oil, peanuts, all of these can cause a reaction. I've seen it. It's scary.

Just think of a 7 year old eating a pb&j. That kid is gonna have peanut butter smeared all over the place by the end of lunch, on the tables, on the door handles, on the lockers, on the bannister, for some a tiny amount can be fatal.

I get that some people see this as stepping in someones rights, i get that. But doesn't the child in danger have more of a right to life than the other kids have a right to eat skippy?

I wonder if I fell into some new-agey health kick where I used peanut oil all over my skin rather than lotion and walked around would I be arrested or at least told to stop?

Maybe George Washington Carver was really a psycho developing WMD's?

Would you be some inclined to oppose this policy if you had a child that was deadly allergic to peanuts and who at the faintest smell would break down into painful convulsions?

I hope not...

I am all for having as much freedom as possible, but the fact of the matter is, in a public facility, peanuts have the potential to infringe on the rights of those who are allergic to have a safe environment to learn in.

Food for thought

Originally posted by phishyblankwaters
I get that some people see this as stepping in someones rights, i get that. But doesn't the child in danger have more of a right to life than the other kids have a right to eat skippy?

Folks with these allergies should have epi-pens with them. That's what they're for. Last time I was in a school cafeteria there were teachers and staff all standing around like it was a prison yard. I can only assume it has gotten more like a prison yard in the past few decades not less. Grap the pen, snap the cap, jam it in and wait 30 seconds. The world doesnt stop spinning because one person or even a million people get motion sickness.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Peanut allergies are more common then you think.

THe problem is that even a smell of them can set some individuals off. Additionally, if you reaction is siginificant to warrent carrying around an epi pe, its there to safe your life.

I do know about you, but i certainly would not want to risk my life every time i went to school.

Edit: Here are some quick stats

Peanut allergy is one of the "Big 8" food allergies that account for 90% of those suffered by 21 million Americans. (AAAAI and FAAN)
More than 3 million people in the United States report being allergic to peanuts, tree nuts or both. (AAAAI)
Approximately 1% of the U.S. population has a peanut allergy (Sicherer, SH, "Prevalence of peanut and tree nut allergy in the US...")
Less than 21% of patients with peanut allergy will outgrow it. (AAAAI)
Peanut Allergy is the most common cause of food related death (AAFA).
Four out of every 100 children have a food allergy. (CDC/NCHS Study, "Food Allergy Among U.S. Children...")
From 1997 to 2007, the prevalence of reported food allergy increased 18% among children under age 18 years. (CDC/NCHS Study, "Food Allergy Among U.S. Children...")
From 2004 to 2006, there were an average of 9,537 hospital discharges per year with a diagnosis related to food allergy among children 0 to 17 years. (CDC/NCHS Study, "Food Allergy Among U.S. Children...")

www.peanutallergy.com...#

A good point has been raised, kids are pretty darn messy and for a kid allergic to peanuts having a bunch of PB&J eating kids running around smearing their peanut product laden hands all over everything could be scary, and potentially dangerous.

But I still maintain the ban is going overboard. What's next, peanut products becoming illegal all together throughout the whole country because a jar could break in a store and get someone sick, or because too many people fail to read warning labels that say that a certain food product was manufactured on equipment also used to process peanuts?

There is always going to be risk in everything, and teaching the kids that every other single person and place they interact with is going to bow to their issues and coddle them isn't going to help them in the long run. When they get to be adults they aren't going to get this kind of treatment, they will have to be responsible for themselves, and I think kids should learn these things early. Otherwise they will get out into the world and become horrified that that world doesn't revolve around them and they'll actually have to be responsible for themselves.

I mean basic hand washing could pretty much get rid of any chance of cross contamination. if the allergic kid made sure to wash his hands frequently, or just not stick stuff in his mouth that shouldn't be there, then there wouldn't be an issue.

On a basic level I don't think a kids right to eat peanut butter and jelly is more important than keeping another kid safe. But it's not that basic. I think that's an oversimplification of the issue at hand. That same logic could be applied to pretty much anything, such as your right to drive a car isn't more important than the safety of others, because there are many people who get hit by cars. Which is why we teach our kids to look both ways when crossing the street.

I feel bad for kids that have to deal with this kind of thing, I couldn't imagine having to worry about everything I eat. I've never had allergies to anything so I don't really know what it's like, but again it should be the responsibility of the person with the problem to keep themselves safe and secure. And when the way to avoid issues (hand washing, which they should be doing anyway) is so incredibly simple, I just don't think a ban on nuts for the whole school is reasonable in the least.

However, the person that mentioned that their kids school banned nuts for snacks brought in for everybody, that makes perfect sense. The food is intended to be distributed, so the person distributing it should make sure they aren't providing anything that's dangerous. But a general ban is just too far.

I agree. Peanut allergies are so prevalent and dangerous that schools controlling the product are a good idea. Kids tend to share and trade, which is good... but they're sometimes too young and uninformed. A traded half sandwich could result in the death of a child.

One could argue that parents need to do a better job of instructing their own kids about these things. But kids... well they'll be kids.

~Heff

No room for normalcy in this p/c, progressive, piece of crap country.

reply to post by James1982


Heh... You haven't seen nothing yet. Just wait until the rest of that legislation is fully implemented...

Public Law 111-296

reply to post by James1982


My thoughts exactly. It's unfortunate but if your kid can't be arround other children because he might die from exposure, home school the kid. I don't think it takes a genious to figure that one out. The life of your child, I would think, is a little more important than a pay check. Now, we'll have people say "We need money to live" I say you'll make due when it come to your children. I have. I'm a single dad of two kids. Life is friggin' expensive. I drive a beater, live in low income housing and work 60 hours a week. If my kid would die from alergies because he went to school. I don't give a crap, I'll go on welfare and home school my child. Jeez, I'll have full dental and medical on welfare, that more than I have now. But fortunatly my children are healthy and I can work and contribute to society.

reply to post by MDDoxs


Are there known cases of people having allergic reactions from smelling the peanut butter? Because for an allergy to react, the peanut must come into contact with food proteins in our bodies.

Originally posted by MDDoxs
Would you be some inclined to oppose this policy if you had a child that was deadly allergic to peanuts and who at the faintest smell would break down into painful convulsions?

I hope not...

I am all for having as much freedom as possible, but the fact of the matter is, in a public facility, peanuts have the potential to infringe on the rights of those who are allergic to have a safe environment to learn in.

Food for thought

edit on 14-9-2012 by MDDoxs because: (no reason given)

edit on 14-9-2012 by MDDoxs because: (no reason given)

The parents of these allergic kids need to really work with the kids, to teach them how to deal with the allergy and keep themselves safe. These kids are going to be in many public places where nut products may be served (movie theaters, ball parks, restaurants, etc.) - they need to learn how to deal with it on their own. We can't have all these public places be nut-free - that's not practical, nor is it fair to everyone else.