Your allergies are not my problem

No, I am a firm believer in taking care of my own. I would expect the responsibility for my child to fall to me and not be mandated by some rule arbitrarily set down by others. Now I realize that there are other snacks that can be sent and we do comply, but I feel that it should come as a request and not as an order. If the school wants to mandate what foods can be brought into the school then they should provide all the food themselves and not have foods sent from home. I'm sure some parents find this requirement costly and it's hard enough to get ends to meet financially.

I actually demand very little because I always try to see both sides of the issue. Check out some of the other comments and my responses.

I do see that and I was trying to be rude,I was only saying how you would feel if your grandchildren had this kind of allergy. The schools need to cover themselves and our children are in their care while at school.

Yes, because allergies to peanuts can be so severe it is best to err on the side of caution.

Wow, that is some good information. I am so glad you brought it to this discussion. I think we all need to know things like that.

There are a lot of things different about this generation of children. We remember when we were kids and we didn't have all these allergies and illnesses. We also know how to behave in public and what our limits were. Kids at a younger and younger age are committing crimes, even crimes of violence. It's a scary world we live in.

Our doctor said that peanut allergies can develop due to introducing peanut products, such as peanut butter, into a child's diet before their digestive system can handle it. If their digestive system isn't developed enough to handle peanuts, which means that it doesn't product the proper enzymes to digest the peanuts, then the body will view the peanuts as "foreign objects" and produce antibodies to attack them. That will progress into an allergy. Since children develop at different rates, it is suggested that peanut products aren't introduced into the diet until the child is at least two years old. That varies, and some children can eat peanut products at a year old and be fine while others will not have the proper enzymes until at least 18 months old. Since there is no real way to tell until you give a child peanut products, it is better to be safe than sorry.

I suppose it is. There are so many factors that you have to think of. It's no wonder parents are stressed out all the time. I tried to teach my girl what she should and shouldn't have to eat during her school days growing up. And I don't know to this day whether she followed it or not. But she didn't die and she's 16 now. So I guess I must have done something right. LOL

Yes but kids will be kids. They will trade and share and not clean up properly behind themselves no matter how well trained they are about their allergies. So it is up to us as the adults to make sure their environment is safe. If that means limiting others, then so be it.

We do the best we can and then hope it is enough.

If those schools experienced something tragic like that, then the rule makes much more sense. I've never heard of anyone being killed by smelling peanut products. Maybe it should be explained to the parents the way you explained it to me and I think they would be much more undersanding.

You are blessed that your reaction is mild. For those people who it is life threatening I really do worry. I see signs up at different fast food restaurants that state they use peanut oil. I wonder do they have any idea how they are restricting their client base, because if they use peanut oil in the restaurant there is nothing that a person who has a peanut allergy can eat there. That oil could possibly be on everything.

OMG How stupid can people be. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to make the connection between peanuts and peanut butter. Sheesh.

Oh, I know; I am *so* blessed. I do have good news--very few people, if anyone, are allergic to peanut oil because it does not contain the peanut protein. I can have peanut oil. I can't have peanuts, peanut butter, nor peanut flower. I was lucky I was a smart kid...when I was in kindergarten in 1992 the allergy was still rare, and we had celery with peanut butter as a snack, and I announced that I was allergic and refused to eat it. They took me to the nurse, and because the idiot nurse didn't have it spelled out for her that I was allergic to peanut BUTTER, just peanuts--and as you and I both know, peanut butter is just ground up peanuts with some oils added--she insisted I was wrong and she and the teacher tag-teamed me (I was five years old) and tried to convince me to eat it. The stupid nurse had a file that said I was allergic to peanuts, peanut oil (which is incorrect) and peanut flour, but because it didn't say peanut butter they were convinced I was wrong. If I hadn't been such a strong-willed kid, I can't imagine what would have happened--if I had eaten it at that age it might have killed me (it still *could* kill me today, but probably not). They eventually gave up and gave me plain celery sticks.

Now that is a very good question. In fact it was the underlying thought behind this whole discussion. When I was a child, and even when I was raising my own we did things that now we are told are dangerous. Things like putting a baby to sleep on it's belly, or giving a child aspirin when they have a cold, or feeding them peanut butter. In fact I was encouraged to feed my kids peanut butter because it helps raise the hematocrit when they were anemic. So how did all these things suddenly become so life threatening?

Hooo! Wouldn't we start something with that one though?

Nah. Don't stop doing them. It did get the point across. Sometimes we have to use creative methods to get a point across, or to bring attention to an important topic.

Please read the rest of the discussion. I know that if you respond from your email like I do you don't get to see how it has developed. (note to self) I'm really going to have to stop doing these types of devil's advocate discussions.

I know what you mean. I have a very good friend who is deathly allergic to even the smell of perfume. We all gave up wearing it for her sake. It wasn't required, and she didn't even ask, but those of us who loved her did not want to be deprived of her company so we made the choice.

Yes you are. In cases with this much potential for disaster they are justified.

Hmmm. I don't think segregation is the key. That would be like discriminating against the child because he has an allergy. That wouldn't be fair either. After all allergies are not contagious. You can't catch it by being exposed to it.

Some people are just that allergic to peanuts as well so this is why the school enacted this policy, just in case.

For some reason the peanut allergy problem has been getting worse every year. If the medical community doesn't figure out what causes it we may get to the point that peanuts will become a poison that make the whole world uninhabitable.

savak03, To that I do agree with you that they do deserve credits and points as well. Have a nice day.

They are being real careful to protect the kids in their care though. For that they get points.

Yes the peanut allergy is a growing problem. I still wonder why it keeps getting worse. Allergies are not supposed to be contagious but since more and more people are suffering from some kind of allergy or another it makes me wonder if maybe we are catching it from each other?

And we all know how well a kid washes their hands, right?