The part that angered me was if a child brought a PB&J sandwich that child had to wear a peanut tag & sit at another table.
Good God.
Posted on 09/25/2007 7:15:42 AM PDT by Cagey
ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. -- Some young St. Johns County students are no longer allowed to bring a popular lunchtime food to school. Peanut butter has been banned.
A kindergarten student at Ocean Palms Elementary in Ponte Vedra has a peanut allergy that has forced the student's classroom to become a peanut-free zone, WJXT-TV reported.
Not all parents are happy with the changes in other students' diets and the inconvenience caused by the peanut ban.
Tracey Torres's son is 5 years old. She said one of his favorite lunchtime sandwiches is peanut butter and jelly, which is also one of Torres's favorites because it's quick, easy and nutritious.
"That's just a typical thing that a kid brings to school and it's something my son likes. It's quick and easy for me in the morning. To not be able to bring that and have to do something else is a burden on me in the morning," Torres said.
She said the peanut-free classroom has been a burden on her in the morning since his kindergarten class at Ocean Palms went peanut free because another student is allergic to peanuts.
When the peanut allergy issue first came up, school officials tried to separate kids with nuts from kids without by sitting them at a different table in school but the close scrutiny was too much work.
"Too much work … and the students weren't always able to eat lunch," said Ocean Palms Elementary Michael Parrish.
Under the new peanut ban, students area able to eat lunch but just not peanuts.
Torres said she thinks it's unfair for kids to suffer because of one student's allergy.
"The burden should be placed back on the parent of that child, and their only responsibility should be to create an awareness with the other parents and children," Torres said.
However, Parrish said awareness isn't enough when dealing with a life-threatening allergy.
The principal said the school is working on a more permanent solution. He said they would probably end up with a peanut-free table in the cafeteria and another table that allows peanuts.
If my kid is allergic to ugly girls, do all the ugly girls have to stay at home? What about allergic to bread, or carrots, or whatever? This is a crock of b.s. from the git go! Keep your allergic child at home or raise him in a bubble if it is that bad. What happened to common sense?
The funny thing is that Peanuts aren’t nuts. They are a legume. I’m shocked at the parents who claim their kids are allergic to all nuts.
We had a parent who brought in a laundry list of allergies. Her daughter would die instantly if she even saw any of the items. The school blew her off. Now her daughter is a teenager and is anorexic. Go figure.
Time for All parents at that school to send their kids to school with PB&J sandwiches with packages of salted peanuts for snacks.
This is a logical outcome of the disabilities act signed by Bush 1. Everyone else is inconvenienced to accomodate 1 person. Let the parents of that allergy prone kid make the accomodations. Don’t force everyone else to accomodate them.
The student who is unfit for school should be banned.
The part that angered me was if a child brought a PB&J sandwich that child had to wear a peanut tag & sit at another table.
Good God.
Two of my children are allergic to white chocolate. I never made a fuss over it. Just told them to stay away from it.
This irritates the heck out of me. I have a DH and daughter (now 49) who have severe peanut and tree nut allergies. THEY are the ones who watched over themselves! My daughter knew what to keep away from, in kindergarten and even before. I don’t think her teachers even knew she had allergies.
What is this kid going to do when he is outside the school and opens a door that (heaven help us) was touched by someone who had eaten peanuts. How about a restaurant? Nut free restaurants in the future? He is going to be in throngs all his life and he should be the one to watch out for himself.
I also have a Grandson who has this allergy and he has adapted easily. He knows about the Epi-pen and knows how to use it if need be. He has adjusted to the world — not the world to him!!
"Holy boys' table, Batman, where should I sit?" asked Robin in a plaintive wail
My daughter had a peanut allergy when she was younger. She couldn’t have peanuts that were baked in peanut oil...otherwise she was fine. She could eat peanut butter without having a reaction.
That said...I would not make an issue of it to get peanuts banned from the school...I would rather teach my kid to leave other kids’ food alone. It’s not hers, she isn’t to touch! (DUH)
My grandson cannot bring a snack to school that isn’t in the original wrapper. My daughter can’t just throw a bunch of cookies in a ziplock bag. He also isn’t permitted a certain kind of pretzel because they are manufactured in a place that also makes peanut snacks. At lunch he MAY bring a PB&J sandwich because the peanut allergy kids have their own table.
At the age of 6 he can tell you just which kids have allergies and what they are.
Most schools solve this by creating a peanut free area in the cafeteria. The kids who are allergic sit there, away from the others, so that the smell of the peanuts won’t cause any sort of allergic reaction.
There’s MA a kid who may or may not go to his city’s Middle School next year and he has a Latex Allergy. They are gutting the school all all Latex and Plastic.
My daughter can tell who has allergies too. I think the allergy children ought to have their own table away from the regular children but our school didn’t want those children singled out for some reason. I went through enough bs last year that I doubt I will ever be a class mother again. It was way easier with my now adult children. There weren’t as many rules or problems. If my husband would just agree I would gladly homeschool.
How ever will they perform the cucumber drill? What a conundrum for the liberal educator; which sacrament to omit?
Latex free conundrums are now available. Science!
You know who else liked a certain group of people to wear tags...
Nam Vet
A boy in my fifth grade class died from a peanut allergy. His father had eaten a handful of peanuts and forgotten to wash his hands. He touched his son, and his son later died because the peanut oil had been absorbed through his skin. There were plenty of peanut allergies 15 years ago, I don’t know why you weren’t aware of them.
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