Boy with nut allergy banned from school because he is a 'health and safety risk'

Daily Mail ^

[UKrepublican]

Boy with nut allergy banned from school because he is a 'health and safety risk'

Like anyone with a nut allergy, George Hall-Lambert had always assumed it was the food that caused the problem – not him.

His new school didn't agree. Concerned that none of the staff was trained to cope if the 11-year-old had an allergic reaction, the headmaster banned him – on health and safety grounds.

George, who was diagnosed with a nut allergy at 18 months, carries an emergency adrenaline injection, known as an EpiPen, and wears a medical tag to alert carers to his condition.

When he began at Howden School in East Yorkshire, his mother informed the comprehensive about the allergy.

A file with medical notes was forwarded from his primary.

If the boy went into severe anaphylactic shock it could render him unconscious and he would need assistance using the EpiPen.

He had been at school for only four days when the head summoned his mother for a meeting.

He told her George must go home as no policies were in place to deal with his condition.

Judith Hall-Lambert, who has three other children, said: "Howden School is saying nobody could take charge of his EpiPen because staff don't know how to use it.

"They won't let him back in school until everything has been sorted out and he is classed as safe.

"If he went back now they say he would be a health and safety risk."

George, who was near the top of his class in his SATs tests, is receiving 15 hours a week tuition at home.

But Mrs Hall-Lambert, 37, of Eastrington, near Goole, added: "George is being discriminated against because he has a nut allergy.

"He is a bright kid and this could set back his education."

She dismissed an offer for him to attend the inclusion unit at the school, as it is predominantly for children with behavioural problems.

"George is well-behaved and there is no reason for him to be in that unit.

"He is entitled to a mainstream education like everyone else," she added.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council said arrangements had been made to send him to school full-time, but his mother had decided not to send him.

"The school is following guidance from the local authority and the Government in ensuring that George can access his entitlement to education in a safe environment."

Head Andrew Williams said staff were working towards an acceptable solution.

"My main concern is to ensure that we meet the health and welfare needs of all students in our care."

[Shots]

Absurd.

not absurd at all at least the Brits did not make a whole school stop eating PBJ’s. They did as they should have took steps until they had a solution in place so he and the school could handle his condition. Why the hell should other kids suffer because he has allergies?

[isrul]

Sure can.

[BunnySlippers]

I’m shocked but I’m with school on this one. The mother went out of her way to tell them they may have to administer the EpiPen. In this ligitegous society the school should be paranoid that the kid:

1. Might get something with nuts and sue them
2. Might have an attack and sue them

If the child dies, the mother seems to be covering all her bases ... stacking the onus onto the school. But the kid’s problem is not the school’s, not the other kids or nurses.

[BunnySlippers]

But the mother is trying to shift the legal status and well being of the child to the school. If something goes wrong ... it is the school’s fault.

I wouldn’t blame any person or organizatiton for trying to avoid a set up like this mom is trying.

[Eric Blair 2084]

This might be fun for kicks and giggles to argue the “other” side of the nanny state argument for a change.

My daughter has severe peanut allergies. (must insert this to play the liberal role of unassailable “victim”) It’s really not a joke. Nobody has ever died after being exposed to SHS, but people who are allergic to peanuts have died instantly after being exposed. No junk science there. They didn’t die 50 years later, they died on the spot.

Having said that, I’m not sitting around bitching and moaning. The first thing we did is send our daughter to a PRIVATE CATHOLIC SCHOOL that has banned peanuts. We went out of our way to find one.

Secondly, she has to know what to do and what to avoid. The Gubmint can’t protect her everywhere. She might be at a ballgame or in the park and smell roasted nuts from a vendor. When she is older, she will know how to use the Epipen herself. In the meantime, we make sure the teachers are trained in how to use it.

[donnab]

Its the schools policy not just her class. So even if there is no one with an allergy in the class...they all have to do the same.
It gets back to ...the rights of the individual over the rights of the majority.

[ozarkgirl]

We all know your child has a peanut allergy. Good you sent her to a Catholic school that has banned the entire school from eating nuts. You know, I truly do sympathize with you, I love my children as much as you obviously love yours BUT I would not expect the entire school to change their lives to submit to your loved one’s dangerous allergy. It is required that her family do what they must but the entire school is not responsible to change their lifestyle to fit your dear one.

[donnab]

Good for you...you sound like a responssible parent who takes on the responsibility of their child. Kudos.

[ReignOfError]

If you ban the nuts, it’s a catastrophe.

If you ban the kids, it’s a catastrophe.

If you ban neither and a kid dies from an analphyactic reaction, it’s a catastrophe.

This, folks, is what we call a conundrum.

[Eric Blair 2084]

I agree. She has to learn what to avoid when she gets older and carry an epipen and know how to use it. I can’t and she can’t expect the Gubmint and the pubic skool system to protect her. Nor do I or she need any help from the Gubmint or the NEA. We can take care of ourselves. At least I can, she is only 3.

I just get really pissed off when I here people poo poo this condition as if it is nothing. I’m as insensitive and uncaring as any man and damn proud of it.

But some of the stuff people say and that I have heard here when this subject is brought up makes my blood boil.

On a thread a few months ago somebody on FR said “Good, let Darwin’s theory of evolution work and let the weak die”. If somebody said that to my face about my daughter they would be drinking through a straw for months.

[surely_you_jest]

Keep one eye on the cat while you sleep. It may take a fancy to conquest.

Too late!!! And what's worse, it seems to have staked me, and my den, out as his private territory.

[Gabz]

I am very sorry about the peanut allergies of your daughter and am happy you have found a school that can accomodate her needs. Too bad for the rest of the kids in that school they have a no peanut policy. Obviously since you chose the school because of the policy your daughter did not cause it, but some other parent did.

If my child had such a severe sensitivity to something as common as peanuts I would not expect anyone to cater to her.

I spent 12 years in Private Catholic schools and no such accomodations were made.

I’m sorry, I just can’t accept an entire student body of families having to cater to the needs of a few anymore than I can accept any of the rest of the nannystate bravo sierra.

[Eric Blair 2084]

OK, let me take a few deep breaths and go have a cigarette and calm down before responding to that one. I don’t want to piss off friends.

You’re a smart women, I’ll give you 5 minutes to please read your post again and figure out what is wrong with your statement. It should only take you 30 seconds.

[William Terrell]

He sounds to me like a nice kid. Just is allergic to nuts. So why should he be subjected to such a mean idea like this?

Because if a teacher screwed up and didn't do precisely the right thing at the right moment, the mother would wasted no times in suing for all the money she could possibly convince a court to award her. She would have lawyers running ooout of her ears, wanting the case.

Even if the teacher's actions were an honest and innocent mistake.

I wouldn't allow this kid anywhere in the same galaxy of my school system. To do so would be extremely foolish, unless the mother would execute a general release of responsibility.

Do you think she would?

[Hot Tabasco]

Very good friends of mine have a daughter who is allergic to peanut stuff and every year as the daughter moves up a grade, Kathy (who is a registered nurse) goes to the new teacher and provides her with whatever it is they give to people who go into shock from the peanut stuff and gives the teacher detailed instruction on what to do if the daughter accidentally consumes anything that has peanut stuff in it.......

[Gabz]

I guess I’m not as smart as you give me credit for, Eric, because I see nothing wrong with what I said.

It is my responsibility as a parent to protect my child, no one else’s and I do not believe I have the right to disrupt the lives of other people in doing so.

[muawiyah]

If that's his reaction you should check up on apple/pear/birch allergy, as well as peachskin/apple/pear allergy.

There are some quite specific chemicals that can cause that reaction ~ not just the nut allergy ~

It seems to be a reaction to chemicals associated with the cyanide found in plants.

[Eric Blair 2084]

Oh, geez Gabz you're killing me here. I've obviously picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

The kids are asleep and the wife is out, so now I'm going to need something stronger than a cigarette. I'll have a double shot of Jack and some Miller Lite to calm myself down.

Obvious Hint: Just think about what we always complain about when it comes to Gubmint mandated smoker bans in PRIVATE as opposed to PUBLIC places. Come on...

...OR SIS.

[Finny]

The concept of fairness is intriguing. Nowhere does it exist in nature. Not in any form, in any way, including the physiological ailments that plague individuals and for which they must adjust their lifestyles. One kids wakes up at age 11 to discover that he has Type I diabetes and for the rest of his life, will have to inject insulin or die. Another wakes up at age 11 healthy and fit and in a good, loving family; another wakes up in the home of a single mom who thinks carbonated sodas (diet or not) are the primary souce of hydration for the body and that breakfast isn't important, so the kid is fat, weak, and slow in the brain. That's life. It's not fair, but it's life.

Justice is an attempt to address wrongs and uphold rights. Fairness is an illusion in our worldly life; it exists somewhere else.

[Finny]

Banning all nuts and nut products or banning the kid are not the only alternatives.

Absolutely right!

The school can easily accommodate this child ...

Not with today's legal system, it can't.

The legal system seems to promote the idea that if it's unfair, it's wrong and justice must be sought. The truth is that fair or unfair often has nothing to do with right or wrong.