Locally, a Seymour, CT woman is attempting to ban peanut butter from the school where her six year-old son is a student. Nothing frivolous here–the boy is dangerously allergic to peanuts and can easily go into anaphalactic shock, risking almost immediate death.
But banning the sale of peanut products in a whole school just for one child? Yes, it’s a clear danger to him, but at age six, he can be made completely aware of the deadly importance that he not eat (or stick it in his eyes, evidently). Teachers are also alert to his condition and have epinephrine vials handy. While it’s hard to compare a few hundred kids not eating peanuts in school to the possibility of the death of a single child, it’s not a given that he will come in contact with it (the mother mentioned it getting on computer keys from a child’s fingers, then her child using that keyboard and sticking his fingers in his mouth or eyes.)
About a year or two ago, also in Connecticut, a streetful of large old trees were cut down because of a child’s allergy. This wasn’t where he lived–it was where his grandmother lived and he occasionally visited.
Really, while I completely sympathize, there’s got to be some common sense input and responsibilty on the part of the individual rather than force changes on a society for that single individual. He can wear gloves, he can eat lunch at a table that has been thoroughly cleaned and with kids who do not have peanut butter sandwiches. There’s home schooling and remote classroom as viable alternatives. Hey, why can’t Mom just pick him up for lunch? Well maybe she’s working at her job. But then, what’s more important to her: her son or her job? His parents can make adjustments and teach him to overcome by making adjustments. What are they teaching him instead? That laws can be made to accomodate his unfortunate problem? After elementary school, will the high school then be forced to ban peanut butter for four years? Will Harvard go along with it after that? And how to lift the ban as he moves along through the system? Wouldn’t it make more sense to teach him how to get along in the real world by making concessions as we all do for one reason or another?
God help the Seymour school system when parents start bringing up the other dangerous allergies that kids may have to products such as nuts, milk, and latex. And try banning bees from the schoolyard.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology
I found your fascinating blog through Elusive Abstractions. On this topic I don’t know that I can agree with you. We have a similar ban on nut products at my son’s primary school (due to nut allergies of about 3 children in the school) but I think it’s a small price for me to pay that my son can’t have food that includes nuts (just at lunchtime) to ensure the safety of those 3 children. Some of these reactions can be set off just by inhaling, and having seen how headlice seem to just go round and round primary schools because the children get so close each other I really would feel happier knowing that my child won’t set off such a reaction. I would think that by the time a child goes to secondary school they might be in a better position to protect themselves.
I’m probably more concerned about nut allergies than mos people as we had a tragic case in this town where a young woman with a nut allergy accidentally bit into a chocolate with a nut in it at work. She had forgotten to bring her epipen with her to work. When she realised what she had done she ran out of the office and over the road to the nearby pharmacy to ask for what she desperately needed. The pharmacist was unwilling to dispense medication without a prescription and the girl died in the pharmacy.
The cutting down of the trees – now that to me does seem very extreme.
It’s a tough call, and I certainly don’t take the danger to this one child lightly, but I still think that other precautions to ensure his safety could be taken. Usually kids are great at helping out; if the situation were explained to all the students, they often take their own personal responsibility for helping their fellow student very seriously. Buddy systems, regular half-hour checks on the boy by the teachers or counselors, etc. can prevent inadvertantly consuming or touching.
I really am not a hardass. I just feel that I would not ask everyone to adjust to my or my child’s situation to that extent. Peanut butter in particular is a healthy, common food for children, usually served at breakfast or lunch–two meals that are often eaten at school.
One thing that I may not be taking into account is the child’s maturity and understanding at his age, and if the burden can reliably be placed on him, even with all the precautions taken by others.