Schools taking away brown bag lunches...that is just so wrong!

I don't think that the schools should have the right to dictate what a child eats for lunch. only a parent should have that right. As long as a chikd is getting the nutrition they need it shoukd not matter if a the kunch cimes in a brown bag or is served on a tray.

I agree with you on this one. I used to send my kids to school with a peanut butter sandwich and sometimes we were lucky to even have that to send them to school with. I would be so mad if I could not afford to provide anything more for my kids and to have a teacher throw it away that would be a slap to the face for me. I do know that at my daughters school all the teachers are trained to use an epi pen and the kids with peanut allergies would sit at a peanut free table. One year there was a kid that could not be around peanuts at all and that kid was able to eat in the class room away from peanuts. They made accomadations with out effecting the whole school perhaps this school should take a lesson from schools that have done it this way for years.

Here, the policy is that no one may bring nut products from home. I don't think someone's safety is something that is to satisfy a few, these are children. Schools should be safe, and it isn't always just a matter of eating the peanut butter. My son isn't allergic to anything, but one of his friend's is. So when we are going to see her, I don't pack anything with nuts. He doesn't mind - there are plenty of other healthy foods he can eat, and he doesn't see it as punishment. Also, I think it would be scarier and more traumatic for him to see his friend go into anaphylactic shock because he offered her a bite of his peanut butter cookie than it would be to have a cheese sandwich instead of a peanut butter one.

Before I read the article I thought Uh-oh the Food Nazis are at it but I think they better find a compromise real soon. If they ban Peanut butter and jelly , those parents of autistic children will get a class action suit together.But I do see where there is a need to protect the kids that are allergic. They should just have separate lunchtimes one with peanuts , one without.

That would be a huge problem for my kids as they will not eat anything on the lunch menu except pizza. I would be scared if I had a child with a life threatening allergy as well but they need to be taught to only touch and eat what they have. I would homeschool my kids until they understood that. The school could always have a seperate table for kids with allergies.

Hi coffee break! That is a weird school. I am a highly allergic person. I have bronchial asthma, skin asthma, and even allergic rhinitis. I also have food allergies, but it has never crossed my mind to deprive others of what they like because I cannot enjoy those things. I think it is wrong for a school to impose that as people with allergy especially children should learn at a young age that they could not have it all and to learn control. It is the time to start the accepetance process not hinder it. Btw, sometimes I do eat foods which I'm allergic to even when I know it. But only a little tiny bit. It's called systemic desensitization. Well there are days that I don't get allergy from them at all. I'm allergic but I do not deprive myself, much more others of the good things in life.

I agree that it's important for parents to teach a child with allergies the "do's and don'ts", just like a child with asthma has to be taught a few things as it's not like it would be acceptable to take gym class out of schools just because one child cannot run for long periods of time due to his/her asthma attacks.

It is one example of how political correctness produces a fear that inhibits people from thinking on their own. I've heard about this thing with peanuts / peanut butter before and it is just nuts. There is no reason to change the lunch options. IF the parents and this child cannot handle normal society, then they have the burden to find another option.

The problem with peanut allergy is that it is such a life threatening thing that some people cannot even breathe the air where a peanut product is. The solution is to have a "peanut free" room. That may even be on a separate ventilation system. The custodians can sanitize it regularly. I work in a situation that we cannot have peanut products in the building when a certain client is present. I can also see kids thinking they are being smart or cute and deliberately exposing the allergic child to peanuts for fun. I think it is wise for the school employees to be trained with epi pens, and that there be one available in the school in much the same way as there are fire extinguishers. My daughter struggles to find food to send with my granddaughter to school, as she is a picky eater and eats slowly. Those kids at her school have twenty minutes to eat lunch daily. Her husband will not let her home school at this time. I am pretty certain that peanut butter is a staple in her lunches. Teachers get roped into extra duty all the time, lunch duty, book sales, recess duty, bathroom duty. . . I think we do not respect them and let them do the very important job of teaching.

I think you are right....and there are way too many people who are making rules for others to follow that I don't think should have the power....like the mayor of New York saying no one can buy a large soft drink....now isn't that something we should be able to make our minds up about? And brown bagging it? What if you kid doesnt' like the choices by the school? They can go hungry because someone else can't eat peanuts?

This is a frightening erosion of our liberty, when parents have no authority over what their own children are given to eat. Besides, who knows what the institutions are putting in that food!?

This is typical of any government based system. The government, being 'of the people' has to cater to all the people. This automatically means the lowest common denominator of society. Thus if one person in the entire school is offended, bothered, harmed, discomforted by anything, everyone else must abide by that system. Same thing as you can't pray in schools. It's offending that one twit in the corner, that you are praying to a 'god' he doesn't believe in, so now no one can pray in a school. Poor Timmy was offended.

In that example, I am guessing the teacher thought that would be the proper thing to do - only because there was already a peanut ban at the school. Was it just protocol to take away any food items seen by teachers that obviously had peanuts in it? Also, in this example, I have to wonder if the parents were aware of the no peanut product policy - and if they were aware, why didn't they follow the rules? I'm not trying to take sides . . . I'm just saying that was already a rule at the school - so why were the parents upset about it. (Like I said - ONLY IN THIS EXAMPLE!). At our school, they teach not to share to food (or at least I see signs in the lunch area with that being one of the rules). I know my daughter has had plenty of classmates with peanut allergies . . . and I'd have to say I'm pretty impressed how these kids (now in 2nd grade) are able to manage their own allergies for the most part. There was only one allergic child in 1st grade who had issues with 2 girls who sat next to him who were bullying him into eating peanut butter (the 2 girls thought that was funny) . . . but I know this kid knows and understands that peanuts make him sick and that he knows to stay away from them on his own (being coerced to eat it is a whole 'nother issue). I guess the scare might be if one kid shares his peanut food with another kid who cannot control themselves regarding their own peanut allergies. There's only one school locally that I know is a peanut free school (maybe it's all nuts - I'm not sure). I don't know how they handle things there. Yah, I feel for those kids with the allergies too. But I don't know that it's necessary to ban peanuts/nuts completely at a school. We know kids who are allergic to other foods too, it's not just peanuts - like strawberries, dairy, eggs - but there are no food bans to accommodate them. And yes, it's not fair to the rest of us either.

While I do feel concerned about people who suffer from peanut allergies, I do not feel that it is ever okay to confiscate someone's lunch, especially from a child. I understand that there are people with severe peanut allergies that might react to airborne nut dust from the peanut products, but taking someone's lunch is absolutely inexcusable. When I was a child, I had brought lunches from home and some of my friends also did the same. There are children that bring lunches from home because their parents do not provide them lunch money. I am not blaming the parents who don't provide them lunch money because they might be in financial bind or something of that sort and that is understandable. However, what kind of school administration would allow some children to go hungry because their lunches were confiscated? Of course, I am only assuming this if the school did not replace their confiscated lunches with some sort of lunch alternative, which was free of charge. If the school administration is so worried about people with severe peanut allergies that might be affected by the particles of airborne nut dust, then allow them to eat in an area which is free of nut dust. This can happen by questioning kids that bring lunches from home if they brought foods containing peanuts. Better yet, the school administration can send some letter to the parents asking them to try not to make their children peanut-based foods. If that does not work, then there needs to be a meeting between the parents and the administration to resolve the issue. Despite the school having good intentions, the children without the allergies should be denied having a meal.

At my disabled son's primary school some children have school dinners and some have packed lunches brought in from home. My disabled son eats a vegan diet so school dinners wouldn't suit him. I think any filling is fine for sandwiches. In America peanut butter and jam sandwiches are very popular. A peanut allergy can be very serious indeed. A child with a peanut allergy should go home for lunch. I heard a lady with a peanut allergy had an allergic reaction with a lemon pie. For a person with a peanut allergy just a tiny amount of it is enough for a severe allergic reaction. Children should be supervised in the school dining hall. They should eat their own food. The parent can teach their children what they are allowed to eat.

this just cannot be tolerated at any point of time and this is totally ridiculous and beyond imagination.i would never allow this thing to happen if i found out