Posted on 01/04/2005 7:54:07 AM PST by TheBigB
YORKTOWN, Ind. — Savannah Dowling is a typical 8-year-old girl; much of her protein comes from peanut butter sandwiches.
However, if she wants to bring one to Central Indiana's Pleasant View Elementary School, she has to eat it at a special table in the cafeteria to accommodate one first grader with a severe allergy. Soon she'll have to take her lunch to an area the school is calling the "peanut gallery" so the one child with the peanut allergy isn't affected.
"I don't think everybody should have to suffer because of one kid," said Mike Raper, a critic of the idea and fiancé of Savannah's mother. "I think it's a terrible precedent. Basically, because there's nowhere to draw the line. You've got people allergic to milk, wheat. My own son's diabetic. There's just no where to draw that line."
School Superintendent Mary Ann Irwin called it "one of the most challenging" accommodations the school has made for its students.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Wouldn't it be easier to move 1 child, rather than inconvenience many?
This is getting out of hand.. What next a meat free zone?
I think what's changed is most kids now probably buy their lunch.
I believe HL Menkcen used to define a Puritan as "someone who is worried that someone else, somewhere, may be having fun".
My definition of a Leftist: "Some who thinks everyone should have to suffer because someone, somewhere is unfortunate".
Get a grip, Mike ... "suffer"? SUFFER? Over a hundred thousand dead in Asia, and you think sitting at a different table during lunch is "suffering"? Grow up, before your maybe-gonna-be-my-stepdaughter-someday grows up to be a useless, whiny, professional victim.
This is a tough one.
Peanut allergies are serious and some kids can have major reactions (i.e. life threatening reactions) from the slightest contact to peanuts.
I think they are going a bit far. But there should be a concerted effort to keep the allergic kids away from potential exposure.
Oddly, I don't remember kids dropping dead in the cafeteria during peanut-butter day.
Maybe everyone should just move to a whole new city.
I would think it would be easier to segregate the poor kid that allergic to peanuts than to segregate the kids who bring peanut butter for lunch. Maybe the parents of the allergic kid ought to homeschool him... no, wait, then he couldn't be indoctrinated by all the teachers preaching their liberal diatribe to young and tender minds.
Maybe the PeanutPolice could get a grip.
"Wouldn't it be easier to move 1 child, rather than inconvenience many?"
Oh, no. Not a "special needs" child. They must be taught that they are more important than everybody else and the world will change to suit them.
A report on the radio this morning indicated that 3 million people in the U.S. are allergic to peanuts.
In other words 1%. So potentially 00% of the kids could be eating in the peanut butter segregated area.
That would be good, too.
Me either. Kids only dropped dead in my school when it was tuna casserole and spinach day.
Yes, but we must punish "normality" and coddle the fringe groups.
It may depend on when you went to grade school. I'm not trying to be insulting here. But many of these severe food allergies to things like peanuts and milk are pretty recent in their being widespread enough to be noticed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.