Peanut butter and jelly sandwich sparks controversy: Can we really ban nut products from schools?

I have a fatal allergy and they put the item im allergic to in peanut butter cookies, most baked goods, carmel, some cholocate goodies and even salad dressing and bbq sauce. My mom taught me in grade school what to look for and how to avoid it, we never had people stop bringing that stuff in.

I have a peanut allergy! That's my problem - not all the other kid's problem! Yes, I appreciate the courtesy but I don't want the others to have to give up eating PB&J sandwiches!

So...what happens to these children with peanut allergies when they get out into the world? Is the guy in the next office supposed to stop snacking on Reese's Pieces? How is this teaching them to manage their allergy problems?

It would be reasonable to teach kids to be careful when they have a snack or lunch with peanuts (make sure they wash their hands, clean their tables, etc.), but it really wouldn't be fair to ban it.

If 3 kids in a classroom of 22 other children were allergic to something, why would you put the responsibility on the 22, rather than the 3?

I remember when I was in 2nd grade, someone in my class had a PB sandwich for lunch. This other kid who was allergic got all defensive and convinced the boy to throw out his lunch or else he might die "and it will be all your fault."

All I can think to myself now is, if you don't want to die, then YOU stay away. Don't make the other kids have to live around YOUR problems.

If a bomb was about to go off and you were dangerously close to it, would you sit there and tell it to stop? That you might die and it totally isn't your fault? No. You would try to get away. If you didn't, you would suffer the consequences and it would be your fault.

In other words, it is okay to teach kids without allergies to be careful around those who have them, but more importantly, teach the kids with the allergies to take their own precautionary measures. The world doesn't revolve around kids with peanut allergies...

Now don't get me wrong. I have a lot of friends with different kinds of severe allergies (peanuts, shellfish, even strawberries), and if I have food containing any of those, I don't ask for permission to eat because I have the right, as do they. I simply let them become aware of it and so we sit on opposite sides of the table and all is good.

I completely agree. I have allergies (mushrooms) and my husband happens to love deep fried mushrooms. We DO NOT ban it in our house, we take necessary precautions so I dont' have an attack. This is something that I deal with and take care of. Just like everyone else. Kids need to learn these important precautions to grow into adulthood. When they go to a restaurant, a peanut ban won't suffice. Parents can teach their kids what the problem is and why. Then proceed to teach them the important questions they will need to learn for later on.

At my kid's school, not only are nut products banned, they can't even bring the fake peanut butter. They also can't bring eggs or oranges, because there are a couple kids allergic to those as well. Maximum 10 kids in the whole school allergic to any of these foods in a school with 600+ kids. I understand the reasoning to want to protect a child, but where's the limit to allergy-free schools? What about the rights and freedom for the other 590 kids?

I said this a thousand times - these kids didn't exist when I went to school or if they did, the school dealt with it quietly, because none of us other kids new about it. I knew of no kid that had a peanut allergy when going to school.

I have a little pretty PA girl in my class who asks me every time if the treat I give has nuts in it...Even though I know her well ...I love the way she has been trained at home to be cautious about her health and I appreciate it every time she asks it!! Parents should train their own children rather than change the world around!! Though my kid loves Peanut butter I wouldn't dare send it to school...she can always wait till she gets home..live and let live:)

we had a PA mom send our grade 2 son home with a do not buy list...not don't bring to school but actually don't buy it period.. I was shocked by her demand

Crystalnmage: The larger problem is that it is peanuts today and a host of other products tomorrow.......of which there are already many lining up to be banned. These include laundry detergents, flavourings, food dyes, chocolate and on and on and on!

These children are tragic cases, and the reasons for them being so can be quickly understood. If a child is born with allergies, with very few exceptions, it is the mother's and her physicians fault for prescribing/using antibiotics during pregnancy. If the child develops allergies as an infant, it is the parents and the child's physicians fault for giving them antibiotics for anything and everything.

There is a very good reason why children raised on farms are far healthier than urban dwellers. From infancy, they are bombarded by all manner of pollutants since they are handled by their parents and their clothing is covered. These pollutants include animal dander, pollen, animal waste and many others. Dealing with these pollutants from their earliest days builds very strong immune systems which will serve them well throughout their life.

It is past time to start holding parents and their physicians responsible for these hyper sensitive children, rather than making everyone else conform to their needs. If this means that these children must be segregated or home schooled, than so be it. They will not get special treatment when as young adults they must enter the real world.

Finally, allergies can be overcome, by using a tiny bit of the "hair of the dog" and steadily building the amount until the immune system is built to deal with that which is causing the allergies. Naturally, this would have to be under close supervision of the parents or an allergy clinic, ready to treat the child should s/he slip into allergic shock. Regardless, this will better serve the child and eliminate the need to deprive healthy children of the many products that will soon be banned.

I'm only 32, and growing up, we never had these concerns in school. Never really knew anybody with a peanut allergy. My daughters are in school, and now we have to worry about food colour allergies along with nuts and such. It's become ridiculous. I bake, and last year was my final year sending any baked goods to the school. I never had issues with anything I made, but the list of stuff we couldn't use became so long and included things that were sometimes sub-ingredients in things, it was near impossible to know if something could be a threat. Red dye 40, yellow dye 5, yellow dye 6, etc etc... don't ask for support from parents if you're going to have them researching for hours on what they can and cannot use!

I'm allergic to coconuts. But my parents never called up the school and asked for a coconut
ban. There are a lot of kids with different food allergies,should we just ban eating at schools
altogether? Or maybe accept the fact it's part of life and we can't expect everybody to cater to everybody else's needs all the time?

How long is this nonsense going to go on ? I have a life threatening allergy to shellfish. Should I demand that every restaurant I might walk into should not serve shellfish ? Or is that MY problem ? If your child has an allergy it is YOUR responsibility that he/she is taught not to eat ANYTHING you haven't given them. It is up to you (and then them ) to guard against exposure to things that will hurt them. I also have severe, life-threatening allergies to bee, wasp, and other stinging insect bites but I don't expect (or want) them to be exterminated on my account -It is up to me to protect myself. Whatever happened to personal responsibilty ?

Lousy time to be in the jelly business.

It's ridiculous that we have to pander to a small minority that can be taught to manage their allergy far better through education by their parents and others, than by making others avoid exposing them to it. Allergies like this are best manged by making kids aware that they shouldn't eat food offered by other students and that they should keep their hands out of their mouths, eyes and noses (particularly after lunch/snack time). All students need to be educated to eat their lunch and then wash their hands so that contamination of nuts and germs in general are kept to a minimum. Classrooms should have sinks for hand washing.

I personally can't stand militant "peanut allergy moms" who insist on banning that from every child's lunch - you can't have a full-blown allergic reaction from scent exposure, that's a mental issue primarily caused by paranoid parents who have trained their child to be phobic instead of careful. I've worked at schools that have classroom limited bans on eggs, milk, nuts, fish and have tried to ban wheat. I'll tell you what, if those parents wish to have those things banned then they can buy and supply my children's lunches! And by the way (in case you don't agree or think I don't know what I'm talking about) my daughter has a hazelnut allergy, my husband has a severe nut allergy, my son has a fish allergy and I am allergic to milk.

There are lots of grocery store products that warn they cannot guarantee they are peanut free. The school better take a trip and list them all.

If your kid has an issue its up to you to deal with it NOT the entire population of the school.
If not then everyone will have something they want banned....kid allergic to PB so no PB...kid allergic to wool so no wool products...kids allergic to wheat so no wheat products...kid allergic to milk so no milk products...kid allergic to cotton so no cotton products...kid allergic to ???? so no ???? and so on and so on ....so letssend the kids to school naked with a bottle of water!!!! Kids should have to learn to deal with their issue not expect others to deal with it for them.

This is a tough one as I have an allergy kid but not to peanuts. He has an allergy to all types of fish but his school doesn't all of a sudden say to all of the kids not to bring fish. Granted he could die just like a PA kid, but no barirers are put in place by the school or board. It is called COMMON SENSE!! He knows he is allergic to fish and he knows not to eat it or touch it.

He once was asked to leave the classroom because another child had brought fish to school, hmmmmm a problem with that YES!! He would have been fine to stay in the class as long as he didn't go near the fish, case closed.

I totally agree we want to keep our kids safe but my son also has several other food allergies that limit his lunch choices, plus that fact that he is so dam picky when it comes to textures, etc. He won't take foods that need to go in a thermos and anything that needs to be refridgerated as his excuse is they are not hot enough or cold enough by lunch time. Anywho I am going off on my own little tangent now, lol.

I'm on the fence here. I'm allergic to stings from bees and wasps. I swell, but that doesn't stop me from going outside. Same with normal hay fever allergies. I just know what to look for, and how to take my meds. But in a school environment it's a bit different. The biggest known culprit is Kids with PA allergies. But there are OTHER allergies too that are serious and kids that have bad reactions. My niece is allergic to 8everything* Not just Peanuts. She's allergic to pet dander and hair/fur, grass, mushrooms, stings from bugs, most medicines, and even wool, and chalk dust. However, my sister taught her daughter what to do, and notifed the school as well. But she never pushed for a BAN on all those items. Cause it's almost impossible to safe guard a kid in a school environment from what they are allergic to. Another example is when my daughter first started grade one. Not even one hour after lunch recess a VERY ANGRY mother came pounding on my door because her grade six daughter had been around my kid who was playing with Dandy Lions. (That year my kid was in the @school lunch program. ) Their kid had to be SENT home covered in rashes. I was unaware of any students with -THAT- allergy, and I was now at Fault, because it was my kid who tried to give this other girl a pretty yellow flower (on school grounds) when even she did not know or even understand. The school was also unaware of the allergy either. Considering the whole play yard was COVERED in the weeds. Yet it was All -my- fault? I was upset and apologetic, but also forced into a corner of guilt when I knew damn well my kid and I had NO IDEA. So I ended up having to educate my daughter on allergies JUST in case her friends had them from that point on. I understand WHY parents want to protect their kids in places they can't activly watch, but then I also understand parents of NON Allergy kids cause damn it some parents with kids with allergies can be rude, angry, and down right scary. I acknowledge they want to protect lil Timmy and Jane from worst case scenario, but there's no need to go marching up to MY Door to yell at ME because something happened to their kid ON SCHOOL GROUNDS. It was very hard pointing out to the mother that my child at most did not understand and if anything it was accidental, and that it could have happened at any moment in time during that recess cause her own kid was playing near the dandy lion covered field, when she should have known better. I hold neither kid at fault. Though to this day the mother of said child gives me angry dirty looks, and lets not forget the names like "Ignorant B**ch ". Yes I was ignorant, but that's because I only knew about the Peanut Allergy issue at my kids school. Nothing else.

My brother and I always took PB&J sandwiches for lunch. Never in either one of our school days did any kid have a reaction or drop dead from our sandwiches being in the same room. As a matter of fact, that is the type of sandwich that the majority of kids brought for their lunch and at no time was there ever an issue. Why over the last 10 years or so has this become such a major concern?
My solution would be this. Take the two or three kids that claim to have severe allergies, send them to a separate room to eat their lunches, then when done they can then be allowed to socialize with the rest of the students.
Why should the many pay for the few?
Another case of the tail wagging the dog.