Well heres the issue as I understand it, j_b. As I said I saw someones reaction to a peanut allergy at work and it scared me to death, so I know this is for real. Now, what she told me was, that peanut allergies are move prevalent in certain racial groups (she is a pacific islander) and these groups tended NOT to include nuts in the diet. The problem is, as more and more kids are mixed race, this peanut allergy is becoming somewhat common (or more common) in these mixed race kids that DO include peanuts in the diet. That sounds right to me, because a couple people here said they had some of these kids in their kids school - and I had never heard of this until about 4 years ago.
But in any case, the fact is, that you need to handle this somehow in the public schools. Do you send the peanut allergy kids home, or send them to special ed, or outlaw peanuts, that is the question. If the school administration decides to outlaw peanuts, as was apparently the case here, then that means bringing a pb&j sandwich to school is a very serious matter (and my guess is it was a mean spirited tact on the part of some parent to send their kid to school with peanuts).
This is not the same as the bldg analogy you described for 2 reasons: 1) things like multiple story bldgs ARE taken into acct when schools are built - kids are protected with grates on windows etc. There are very few health hazards in schools as a rule, and 2) this nut allergy is a passive thing, not active so the kid in question doesnt do anything (other than be exposed to the nuts) and can suffer dire consequences. To jump out of a window or commit suicide in some other way, it is deliberate on the part of the individual.
I agree it is not an ideal solution but I want to hear from someone as to how to address the situation vs. the "thats dumb" response please.
Michelle |
