[Jack Wilson]

The ADA rears its ugly head again...

[Phantom Lord]

How are they going to hand out condoms???

[FITZ]

Isn't this going to kind of conflict with them passing out condoms?

[Lockbox]

Well I have a Hillary allergy, guess I just need a note from my doctor and America must keep me free from Hillary........

[DB]

Why limit it to the school?

Why not the town or the county?

The kid may want to go somewhere outside of school...

[Fierce Allegiance]

I was at my nephew's bar mitzvah with my million mom march sister in law and she complained that there were latex balloons. She doesn't feel people should be allowed to use them because she is allergic. I suggested she leave if she has a problem, which she didn't agree with, and vocalized the fact, when my sister who was hosting the event agreeed with me.

Looks like our family reunion in february will be fun, especially because i just got my new "Guns protect women & children" t-shirt.

[Flyer]

--to prepare for a freshman with a life-threatening latex allergy

I guess the kid will live at school to avoid all the latex products out in the real world.

[ClearCase_guy]

Open, bleeding wounds would probably be bad -- the student could have AIDS, and I don't think the school could really ask (invasion of privacy).
Band-aids to cover up open, bleeding wounds would be bad -- latex allergy.

So, do you:
A) bandage junior's scrape
B) leave it open to the air
C) keep junior home for a few days?

The answer is D) Homeschool

[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.