hres a nice example, i think , of support: each parent got a letter expalining the serousness of the pnut allergy, and asked to sign and return it, indincating htey understood the sitiation (or the letter info, at least) and that they would do their utomost to not send in snacks that are SHARED in the classroom, if htey had a kid in a classrm that had an allergice child.

i think that was very wise thing to do, EDUCATE parents about teh risks and the condition, INFORM, and SUGGEST they do what they can to help keep such afflicted children out of harms way.

does NOT keep PBJ out of the lunchroom,just out of the classrooms that have snack inside the rooms, K-3. note, some teachers even bring snacks from home to share with the kids, and dont even tell the parents about it. i trust they dont bring in pnut products.

the world isnt perfect, and theres no way to prevent every preventable probalem, but its nice to see some admins are doing what they can to prevent anaphylactic shock.

There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action. Goethe

Denise - while I have the utmost respect for your challenges as a parent, you cannot honestly expect anyone to relate a pb&j to a gun! Or ever, ever compare a wholesome, traditional lunch to a blantant act of violence and terrorism. It's exactly this kind of thinking that leads to seperate tables, red fanny packs, backlash towards the 'allergic' child. The world cannot possibly conform to the needs of each and every citizen on this planet.

Extreme examples? How about this one. Some children have fatal reactions to sunlight. Let's stop daytime school altogether and make all of our children go to school at night. Heaven forbid the allergic child should feel different or ostracized.

I have a tremendous amount of compassion for anyone who struggles for any reason and am in full support of such legislation as the Americans with Disibilites Act. But like any other type of legislation it needs to be interpreted and applied with intelligence and common sense.

[ 09-21-2006, 12:33 PM: Message edited by: CrewChief ]

It's apparent the people who post "live and let live" don't understand the severity of a peanut allergy for some children. My son has a peanut allergy. Here's what he goes thru when in contact with peanuts...his eyes swell shut, he gets hives all over his body (which itch terribly) his face swells as does his lips and tongue. This has happened twice, with each exposure it gets worse, so next time his throat may close, blood pressure drop, coma then death. As a mother do you honestly believe this is "live and let live"?
I'm not saying a child with an allergy should not be careful. My son knows (as well as a 5yr old can) not to eat what i don't pack him. But what about cross contamiination? Know what that is?? Thats when your child eats a peanut butter sandwich and then goes to lets say the bathroom and touches the door, the toilet the sink handles. Then my child goes in a touches these things. BAM!! He has all those reactions I mentioned before.
Think of it this way. A child is going to bring a gun to school, your child may come in contact and get hurt or die. Picture the PB&J sandwich as the gun. I'm sorry to sound so crude but if your child was as severe as mine you would pull out all the stops. EVERYONE must learn to wash their hands after eating peanut products. I agree with one of the posts about peanuts being around forever and now all of a sudden theres all these allergies. But ya know what Peanut allergy is very real and very dangerous. Evryone should learn and deal with it.

You can choose your resturant, a child cannot choose their school. A college student is 18-22, not 5-8, and has had the years to "educate" themselves to their allergy.

I don't understand the importance being placed on a food item , above the importance of a childs well being and in many cases life?

Put yourself in the shoes of a parent who's got the child with the allergy - would you want to take the chance? I certinaly wouldn't.

public schools are funded by tax dollars, restaurants and such, are not. thats the diff.

How are these "allergies" managed at a restaraunt, when this child goes to college, when you go to the mall, the grocery store.....educate, don't mandate.....the "real world" is not peanut-free, dye free, laytex free...I agree a safe school environemnt is needed, however when we begin to accomodate all our differences we strip everything away and are left with a shell for a society with no substance....Live and let live, embrace differences, don't take offence to them, take personal responsibility for your situation.....the world would be a better place!