High School Now A Balloon-Free Zone

Chicago Tribune ^ | November 8, 2003 | Jodi S. Cohen

[Flyer]

France.

European farts

[NicknamedBob]

peta --> PETA

Seems to be a vicious circle!

[Flyer]

Seems to be a vicious circle!

Yep. All the troubles in the world can be traced back to PETA.

[NicknamedBob]

"...High school now a balloon-free zone..."

Is it possible for this emerging pattern of the tyranny of a minority in single digits to ever return to the normal world?

Latex, peanuts, some folks complain about the use of deodorants and perfumes -- to what degree does the majority have to comport itself to make so few more comfortable?

Nature doesn't act this way. In the wild, the rare Albino Zebra or whatever is considered quite a delicate treat -- by the lions!

[Born Conservative]

There are some people with latex allergies who will have an anaphylactic reaction with exposure to latex. In this case, unless the allergic person has direct contact with a balloon, I don't think he/she would be affected with the balloon in the general vicinity. As for airborne exposure to latex, this usually occurs with powdered latex gloves. The latex protein binds to the powder, and when the glove is removed, the powder is dispersed into the air. If this powder is inhaled by someone who is allergic, then a reaction can occur. There is a great web page that describes it all: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/latexalt.html

Having said all that, I think that banning balloons from a school is as ridiculous as banning peanuts from airplanes and peanut butter in the school cafeterias. If a person has a history of anaphylaxis, they need to use common sense (stay away from latex) and have a dose of epinephrine close by.

[Tamzee]

If a person has a history of anaphylaxis, they need to use common sense (stay away from latex) and have a dose of epinephrine close by.

Sorry, that sounds suspiciously like "personal responsibility"... We certainly can't have THAT, now can we?

[Born Conservative]

Yes, the lawyers and welfare system in this country are killing off the concept of personal responsibility.

[Jack Wilson]

This will get interesting when schools are confronted with conflicting demands for access - after ripping out all of the walls to accomodate a student with claustrophia, someone will show up with agoraphobia and they will have to put the walls back up.