Onto Day 4 of my blog challenge: Write a Link Post! I have actually never done this before so it's a neat challenge for me.
I thought that I would discuss something that was a touchy subject at work recently...the case in Florida regarding a girl with a peanut allergy and preventative measures that some were calling too much. I am sure that if you are a parent, my opinion on this might not be a popular one, but here I go.
I think that in this country, we often take things to the extreme, especially when it comes to our kids. I know, I know, how can I possibly say that? But you know, people have been having kids for a pretty long time, generations and generations before us, and I think sometimes we are way too careful for our own good. In this particular situation, the parents of a first grade class were not happy about "extreme" measures taken to accomodate a girl in the class with a severe peanut allergy. In fact, this allergy is considered so severe, she is said to have a disability by the ADA. The children in this class have to wash their mouths out when they arrive at school in the morning and after lunch. A dog trained to sniff peanuts is also brought through the school to detect peanut residue. Ok, a dog? Really? They've recently said that these measures were extreme and will stop in the future, but why was this ever considered "reasonable" in the first place?
Here is the thing. I am not saying that peanut allergies are not a real thing, because they are. I am also not saying they are not life threatening, because they are. However, if you read up about statistics for peanut allergies, you will find that of the 3.3 million Americans suffering from these allergies, only 150 actually die from it each year, and this is always because of peanuts being ingested, not just residue floating through the air. Time has an interesting article about peanut allergy hysteria, saying that the amount of attention paid to peanut allergies in this country only contributes to the "anxiety" felt by parents. Read this article here. The article goes on to essentially say that the more we drive nuts out of kids daily activities, the more hazardous this can be to their health, as the more kids are exposed to nuts, the more likely their allergies are to disappear.
In this particular case, the girl's allergy was supposedly incredibly severe. So severe, in fact, that even airborne residue from other children's mouths might cause an allgeric reaction. Listen, I am all for including children as much as we can, despite disabilities. But if, in fact, her allergy is that severe, why in the world would her parents even WANT to send her to school? Actually, if they are that severe, this child would not be able to go anywhere, ever. Exposure that minimal causing a reaction that could lead to death would have to be cut out of her life completely. I would venture that her allergy is not that bad, as she would have already been exposed to residue at the age of 6, and obviously, she has made it this long. I am not here to judge her allergy, though. I just think that if it were my child with a life threatening allergy, I would find a way to keep her from harm's way as much as I can.
The other thing I would be concerned about would be relying on 6 year olds for my daughter's life. Having a 6 year old myself, I can certainly attest that they are sneaky with stuff they've put in their pockets. I have almost washed bits of crayons, rocks, acorns, jelly beans, and a number of other small toys and items that have snuck in to her pockets throughout the years. I also cannot get her to remember what she ate for lunch, much less remember to not ever have peanut paraphonalia on her person at all times. She can't read labels well enough to know what could have peanuts in it...what happens if a child snuck something into his pockets that no one noticed and this girl died? How would that feel as a child to know that something you did caused the death of another human being? And why, as the parent of this girl, would you want to put that type of responsibility on another child? There is another parent on Babycenter.com who agrees with me, I found her article to put it best.
I really feel as though we need to ask ourselves what type of accomodations are appropriate and which ones are a bit ludacris. I am not saying schools shouldn't be aware of children with peanut allergies, but if the situation is truly life threatening, we need to find an alternative that is going to make sense to everyone.
I thought that I would discuss something that was a touchy subject at work recently...the case in Florida regarding a girl with a peanut allergy and preventative measures that some were calling too much. I am sure that if you are a parent, my opinion on this might not be a popular one, but here I go.
I think that in this country, we often take things to the extreme, especially when it comes to our kids. I know, I know, how can I possibly say that? But you know, people have been having kids for a pretty long time, generations and generations before us, and I think sometimes we are way too careful for our own good. In this particular situation, the parents of a first grade class were not happy about "extreme" measures taken to accomodate a girl in the class with a severe peanut allergy. In fact, this allergy is considered so severe, she is said to have a disability by the ADA. The children in this class have to wash their mouths out when they arrive at school in the morning and after lunch. A dog trained to sniff peanuts is also brought through the school to detect peanut residue. Ok, a dog? Really? They've recently said that these measures were extreme and will stop in the future, but why was this ever considered "reasonable" in the first place?
Here is the thing. I am not saying that peanut allergies are not a real thing, because they are. I am also not saying they are not life threatening, because they are. However, if you read up about statistics for peanut allergies, you will find that of the 3.3 million Americans suffering from these allergies, only 150 actually die from it each year, and this is always because of peanuts being ingested, not just residue floating through the air. Time has an interesting article about peanut allergy hysteria, saying that the amount of attention paid to peanut allergies in this country only contributes to the "anxiety" felt by parents. Read this article here. The article goes on to essentially say that the more we drive nuts out of kids daily activities, the more hazardous this can be to their health, as the more kids are exposed to nuts, the more likely their allergies are to disappear.
In this particular case, the girl's allergy was supposedly incredibly severe. So severe, in fact, that even airborne residue from other children's mouths might cause an allgeric reaction. Listen, I am all for including children as much as we can, despite disabilities. But if, in fact, her allergy is that severe, why in the world would her parents even WANT to send her to school? Actually, if they are that severe, this child would not be able to go anywhere, ever. Exposure that minimal causing a reaction that could lead to death would have to be cut out of her life completely. I would venture that her allergy is not that bad, as she would have already been exposed to residue at the age of 6, and obviously, she has made it this long. I am not here to judge her allergy, though. I just think that if it were my child with a life threatening allergy, I would find a way to keep her from harm's way as much as I can.
The other thing I would be concerned about would be relying on 6 year olds for my daughter's life. Having a 6 year old myself, I can certainly attest that they are sneaky with stuff they've put in their pockets. I have almost washed bits of crayons, rocks, acorns, jelly beans, and a number of other small toys and items that have snuck in to her pockets throughout the years. I also cannot get her to remember what she ate for lunch, much less remember to not ever have peanut paraphonalia on her person at all times. She can't read labels well enough to know what could have peanuts in it...what happens if a child snuck something into his pockets that no one noticed and this girl died? How would that feel as a child to know that something you did caused the death of another human being? And why, as the parent of this girl, would you want to put that type of responsibility on another child? There is another parent on Babycenter.com who agrees with me, I found her article to put it best.
I really feel as though we need to ask ourselves what type of accomodations are appropriate and which ones are a bit ludacris. I am not saying schools shouldn't be aware of children with peanut allergies, but if the situation is truly life threatening, we need to find an alternative that is going to make sense to everyone.
Comments
Now to argue the other side - after watching my mom have an anaphylactic reaction a year ago to Aleve, something she has taken daily for years, it's a super scary experience. I can't imagine having a child with an allergy like that and trying to explain the importance of not eating anything to a 4yo, 10 yo, etc. Especially, since so many ingredients you wouldn't think contain any allergens do! Also, too, each time they have a reaction, the next one is supposed to be more severe than the last. This is not something that can be messed with. Always worrying about having an epi-pen and where the closest hospital is, must be terrifying. After use of the epi-pen supposedly you have 15 mins to get to the hospital and thats its before the reaction continues.
All in all, I would be homeschooling the child!