Peanut Allergy Student–Too Much Information
*** See update at the bottom
Oh my, it was so hard to read this blog post from a middle school secretary. She states that “I don’t know you, and I don’t know your kid.” I know a lot of you are going to say “Thank Goodness”
This middle school secretary from Northern California is writing all of sorts of details on about incoming student with a peanut allergy. His parents are seeking some accommodations to keep him safe.
Here’s a little from this post:
“I read his medical file. As a baby, the child was allergic to milk. As a toddler, the child ingested peanuts and got hives! And, he coughed! He was rushed to the hospital where he was observed with a rash an hour later! At age six, he had a reaction on an airplane, presumably Southwest before they caved to the Peanut Paranoia and started serving pretzels. “
And last but certainly not least…
“Do I think this child does? [have a deadly peanut allergy] Based on what I read, no. He has an allergy, not a deadly allergy.”
I’ve already had a few emails on this. I really don’t know how to respond other than to say we need to eductate the public more. We’re all aware that there are folks out there who don’t “get it”. It’s just unsettling to know that they’re in our schools.
*** I believe I have the school and blogger identified. A very kind, food allergic adult, who remembers the difficulties of growing up with food allergies, has gotten to the bottom of this.
I do not want to identify the school district here as that will further identify the child.
District has been notified.
May 19, 2009 @ 10:25 am
[…] Already another email on the post I wrote earlier today on Peanut Allergy Paranoia. […]
May 19, 2009 @ 12:43 pm
Ack! I live in Northern California and I sure hope she’s not in our district. It boggles the mind that someone could be this stupid and insensitive. Go blogging community for getting to the bottom of this! I hope she’s fired, not for her opinion of peanut allergy (which is obviously off base), but for her violation of this student’s rights and her terrible judgment. God knows what other information she’s been taking a look at in other kids’ files?!?
May 19, 2009 @ 1:05 pm
Interesting. I read that blog post and was going to forward it to my husband but now when I click on your link Blogger says the blog is open to invited readers only. The blog writer must have locked her blog.
I wonder what she expected after a post like that? Applause? I’m shocked and saddened that a school secretary would have such an attitude and then be so bold as to blog about it. As others stated, it’s not hard at all to find out who’s behind the blog these days. The internet isn’t so anonymous. Thanks for the eye opener, even if it wasn’t something I was happy to see.
May 19, 2009 @ 1:39 pm
This person needs to get a clue…
Here is the body of the blog in case anyone has trouble accessing it.
===================
Monday, May 18, 2009
Peanut Paranoia Appears
That wacky fad, the death peanut, has arrived at my school. We have been informed that an incoming student is so allergic to peanuts that they can kill him in an instant and we, a school of 900 thirteen year olds, have to make accommodations to ensure his continued survival.
I read his medical file. As a baby, the child was allergic to milk. As a toddler, the child ingested peanuts and got hives! And, he coughed! He was rushed to the hospital where he was observed with a rash an hour later! At age six, he had a reaction on an airplane, presumably Southwest before they caved to the Peanut Paranoia and started serving pretzels. That situation was so dangerous, they finished the flight, landed home, and took their child to the doctor, where Dr. Feelgood gave a blood test which determined the kid, having not died from peanuts in the past, might die next time, handed the parents an epi-pen and wrote a document that schools have had to comply with ever since.
So, to prevent this deadly strain of hives and killer cough, the parents have requested:
* A peanut free zone in the cafeteria, specially cleaned before each lunch
* Education for all staff in cross-contamination
* The computer keyboards cleaned before each class. (no mention of doorknobs or desks)
* All students informed of his condition and classroom education about killer peanuts be provided to students
* Sanitizer available for kids in all classrooms, and them being made to use it
* No peanut products brought from home from any class this student is in
* No food available during lockdowns in case the students are trapped and peanuts are in the food.
The last one is problematic, because we have had instances where the kids go on lockdown and must remain quiet and still for hours. We keep granola bars in classes for our diabetic kids - these are recommended as being a food that will keep their blood sugar stable in the event of a lockdown situation.
Granola bars contain peanuts.
I guess it will be the battle of the diseases.
May the real disease win.
Our counselor contacted legal to find out what our responsibilities are. Frankly, I think if you have a child who is so allergic to peanuts that they can’t be around them at all, you are nuts to send them to an urban public middle school where he’ll be sharing a lunch room with 450 kids and eating after 450 other kids just left. There is zero way your accommodations are going to be made faithfully, it’s absolutely impossible, and no matter how hard we may try, you cannot control the actions of that many students.
If by now you have not taught your child to take care of themselves and avoid danger - if they can’tcarry their own sanitizers, wipe their own table or sit outside under the grass with their peanut-free friends, if they can’t clean their own keyboard, if they can’t function around peanuts, then please, homeschool them. Because, they are not going to be safe at our school even if we do everything you ask.
Those accomodations might work in an elementary school, which is much more self-contained and protected. But, never in a million years will it work in a middle school with 900 kids who come and go during the year, with all the teachers, with substitutes and fluctations in staffing and all the things that come up during the day that might prevent that keyboard cleaning one day.
Not to mention, the second some smart-aleck 13 year old you “educated” about peanut allergies finds out who the kid is, I swear to you that your child is going to be smeared with the deadly substance so fast your head will spin.
We’ll suspend that kid - but will that make you feel better?
The funny thing is our VP has a “deadly” allergy to peanuts. She has an epi-pen in her desk, has shared with us where it is and how to use it, and that was the end of it. She’s in the lunch room daily supervising the kids, is in the classroom and I haven’t seen a reaction yet.
Do I think some people have deadly peanut allergies? I think a very, very few do.
Do I think this child does? Based on what I read, no. He has an allergy, not a deadly allergy.
Do I think doctors are over-reacting and diagnosing an allergy as fatal based on one blood test? Yes, I do.
Do I think a public middle school can protect that one in a million kid who really does have a fatal peanut allergy?
Not on your life. All we can do is give him epinephrine when he has a reaction and then call 911.
If the kid can’t protect himself, keep him home.
May 19, 2009 @ 3:13 pm
That blog post has my stomach actually churning. I can’t get it off my mind. My toddler has multiple, severe allergies and attitudes like this just make me more and more frightened of entrusting a school with her safety.
I think what floors me the most is that the blog author shows no apparent awareness of her own arrogance when she declares that she, as a school secretary, thinks the doctors, with their years of general medical training and then further specialised allergy training, are over-reacting in their diagnosis.
Well done to you for reporting it to the suspected school district, and I understand your reasons for not wanting to ‘out’ the school here. But please do keep us informed of any follow-ups to this or let us know if it hits the mainstream press.
May 19, 2009 @ 5:44 pm
This blog post really has me thinking. Like many of the other commentators, I feel the same shock, fear, and anger. However, this blogger’s thinking reminds me of the early days of my son’s food allergy diagnosis. It was so easy to not take it seriously and to treat food allergies as something that can be ‘cured’ with Benadryl and Epi-Pens. But, after one heart stopping call to 911, my attitude completely changed and I learned how wrong I was. I admitted my ignorance and educated myself. Now, I am not only an advocate for my son, but I have also become a food allergy awareness advocate and educator to everyone I meet.
I refuse to deprive my son of normal experiences like middle school because of fear. However, I also know that I have to do more work so that he can safely have these experiences. As his mother, it’s my job to make his world safer, but it’s also my job to teach him how to make his world safer for himself. He will learn how to prep his environment, how to educate his friends/teachers/caregivers, and how to advocate for himself.
Rather than treat this blogger with anger and condemnation, can we not find it in ourselves to have compassion and patience? To treat this as an opportunity for education not accusation?
If we treat ignorance with anger, how can we expect change?
May 19, 2009 @ 10:14 pm
Hey everybody,
I’m sorry for the uproar I caused you all. I see from my stats that I have a zillion hits from this site so let me explain.
I am taking a blog writing class from ProBlogger. The topic was to write about something controversial. I am a member of a technical board and this peanut topic came up four years ago - one of our members had a child with an allergy and was asking for accomodations from the elementary school. So, in trying to come up with a conversation-generating topic, I remembered that discussion and I figured I’d write about that topic and see if it got the same kind of back and forth that had happened on the forum.
There is no child with peanut allergies in my school (to my knowledge) and as I said in my disclaimer - and throughout the site - I make much of my blog up. It’s far more novel than truth. I just use the MS Secretary thing as a platform to write about ideas that pop into my head. Lots of the things I write about are stuff I read that happen in other schools, or that I read about in books.
I put that clearly in my pages and in my disclaimer.
And, I want to assure you all that I take the utmost care with each child in my school. I love them all and if you read my entire blog, you would see that. Not that I see many of them - I am usually stuck in the back doing the paperwork. :)
I took my blog down because my email this morning was full of threats of tracking me down and killing me. I find that really odd behavior for anybody, much less people who state they are worried about their children. I can certainly understand differing points of view and I was intending my post to generate a lot of discussion - that was, after all, the assignment.
I was not expecting the hatred and vitriol and death threats that I received. .
I am not sure anybody actually found the real me as I’ve heard nothing about it. However, like I said, I’ve done nothing illegal and the details are made up so I expect that you have wasted your time in your threats anyway.
Hope this clears it up for you. Have a nice evening.
May 19, 2009 @ 11:14 pm
Middle School Secretary,
How is it that you remember, from *4 years ago* the details of food allergy accommodations so clearly? The accommodations you posted are not ‘made up’ from nothing and NOT something someone with no experience dealing with school accommodations for a food allergic child would be able to make up or know. So, I don’t believe this is made up. I also don’t believe you about the death threats but if that really is true that someone actually threatening you that’s *horrible*. There is NO excuse for that type of behavior and it is actually worse than what you did.
However, what you did is still very bad. It shows you can’t possibly treat a food allergic child fairly. I would be afraid of you hurting a child somehow out of ignorance and arrogance.
The thing you don’t know is that children with food allergies can die from touching food residue. The accommodations you listed are standard and *reasonable*. Not having them would be dangerous. The other thing you don’t know is that once a reaction starts there is no way to tell if it will become life threatening or not. Past reactions do not predict the severity of future ones. The reactions that child had when younger are considered signs of potential anaphylaxis if they child ingests those allergens again. Most food allergy deaths happen to people who don’t realize this and think they have a ‘mild’ food allergy. Unfortunately there is no such thing as a ‘mild’ potentially life threatening food allergy or at the least no test to sort those who for sure will never have anaphylactic shock from those who won’t.
I’m so, so glad you are not at my child’s school. I wouldn’t wish a peanut allergy on anyone or anaphylaxis but one day odds are you or someone related to you will know how wrong you were about this topic.
May 19, 2009 @ 11:48 pm
Middle School Secretary, (if it’s even really you)
Amazing how fast we can back pedal. Regardless of whether your story is fact or fiction, I find it downright unprofessional to do what you did in your position.
A writing assignment? There are a million controversial and current things you could have written about that wouldn’t cause harm. In fact, you could have still written about food allergies but in a much different and positive light. In fact, considering all the anti food allergy people out there-a positive post would have been “more” controversial.
You said “I was not expecting the hatred…” and yet you are also saying that the goal was to write about something controversial and see if it got the same back and forth as on the forum you were on. While death threats are out of line and I’m sure if you received any they were few and far between, as a blogger trying to write a controversial post you should have expected opposing comments.
Sorry but your story doesn’t sit well with me. If I’m going to blog-fact or fiction-I’m going to blog from my point of view. So even if your blog is fiction-I can only assume it’s based on your own personal views and feelings. And if those are in fact your views and feelings-you have no business working in a school with children.
Life threatening food allergies are covered under disability laws. Food allergic children are entitled to accommodations much in the same way as any other disabled child. It’s not a matter of whether it’s doable or not in any one person’s opinion. It’s the law.
May 20, 2009 @ 2:05 am
As I’m fond of telling my kids when they’re blatantly trying to pull one over on me, I smell bologna.
1. The secretary’s claim that people still haven’t found out who she really is simply doesn’t wash. When I contacted the principal and superintendent of the school district, they quickly responded that they were aware of the incident and were addressing it. They didn’t say, “We have no idea what you’re talking about, crazy lady, and this person is not one of our employees.
2. Her claim that she’s taking a class from ProBlogger and the assignment was to write something controversial also seems off. About a month ago, as part of ProBlogger’s “31 Days to Build a Better Blog” challenge. It’s not so much a class as a month-long series of tutorials and tasks aimed at enforcing the day’s post. Writing an opinion piece was Day 19, April 24. No where did the ProBlogger encourage participants to make up something. In fact, the instructions encourage writers to share their “personal opinions” - not to write about a conversation-generating topic.
3. As other commenters have said, it just doesn’t wash that all these details were that crystal clear from four years ago.
4. She puts it clearly in her disclaimer that her blog is largely fiction? No where in the disclaimer does it say the blog is made up.
5. She loves kids? I won’t claim to read anyone’s mind or heart, but love is not the feeling I got from her blog. Why can’t the teachers learn to fax so she won’t have to do it. Why is the computer teacher whining about the temperature. Teachers make terrible business people.
I’m also noticing a curious shift in tone from the blog posts and the comment here, which to me says one of two things. Either the person who commented is not the person who wrote the blog post or the fallout has been so great as co-workers have read the many unkind things she wrote that she’s trying to press the reset button by giggling and saying, “Aw, shucks, you didn’t take that stuff seriously, did you?”
May 20, 2009 @ 5:39 am
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May 20, 2009 @ 6:04 am
Thanks to Debra L. and Gina C. for getting this story out there and taking action. Whatever her real story is, it certainly wasn’t very wise of her to publish the posts she did, and at the very minimum displays incredibly poor judgment, to a level that is alarming considering she is working in a setting with children.
May 20, 2009 @ 12:07 pm
MiddlesSchoolSecretary,
Giving you the benefit of the doubt, since you are here, you might try reading some of the articles on this blog. It will give you an idea what the challenges, and fears every parent of an allergic child faces everyday.
It will maybe help you understand the strong reactions generated by what you wrote and why. Perhaps it might even motivate you to write an antithesis to your original entry.
The article below, from the perspective of a child, to me best explains why while we should not overly-protect our allergic children, make sure we provide them with the best possible environment so that they can do so themselves.
http://www.allergymoms.com/modules/wordpress/index.php?p=791
May 20, 2009 @ 12:45 pm
I don’t believe for a minute that you, (Middle School Secretary) made this all up for one simple reason. You now say there are no children allergic to peanuts in your school of hundreds. Sounds highly improbable, if not impossible with the rate of food allergy.
May 20, 2009 @ 5:53 pm
Wow. If this “middle school secretary’s” post teaches me anything it’s that you can’t let your guard down with any school staff. I’ve had disbelievers among the head staff at a preschool touting itself as “nut-free” but this post is really beyond the pale. Luckily things have gone OK at our new elementary school, but this was not the case at a previous school my daughter attended. I’m so sick of trying to convince hostile people that my daughter has a serious medical condition and then having them dispute my motives and sanity–why would anyone go through this if they didn’t have to?
I’m so happy that we have people like Gina digging deeper into this story to get to the root of the problem. People’s lives are at stake with life-threatening peanut allergies and if you want to say that kind of thing on a blog post for the world to read, then, yes, we’re going to hold you accountable.
As far as “middle school secretary” receiving vicious comments on her blog after her “controversial” post, now she knows what it’s like to be a food allergy blogger! ;) If you’ve got an FA blog, you know what I mean.
May 24, 2009 @ 10:32 pm
I am just not suprised by anything that I have read! I have a child with a peanut allegery that has had his wind pipe just about swell shut at 19 months old from one bit of my peanut butter sandwich! My child is now 4 and should be starting K5 in the fall. I went to reg him a while back and left with a home school reg card instead! The K teacher told me that I didn’t need to send my child to her class if he didn’t know what he could and could not “put in his mouth!” Wow! is what I said! I don’t know of any adult who knows that! I read ever label as most of you other mom’s do! Not to mention that we live in rural MS so this lady is the only K teacher there! I don’t have a choice if he is in her class or not so we are going to homeschool for this year and see how the 1st grade teacher’s attitude is next year! My child is ahead for a 4 year old boy anyway so the comments can come about his going to be behind! This is what is best for my child!(as you can tell I have already herd the long lecture about this!)
May 25, 2009 @ 8:56 pm
I hope the real author of this blog reads these comments, and uses this opportunity to open her mind and heart. Life-threatening food allergies are real and more prevelant that many think. Watching my 3 year old’s airways swell shut, seeing him looking at me with wide, panicked eyes, holding his throat because he could not breath, both of us wondering if he would die in moments before the epi-pen kicked in, (this after eating less than 1/8 a teaspoon of peanut butter) is an experience I would not wish on any parent or any caregiver. Comments like those in this person’s blog can put a child’s life at risk by continuing ignorant disregard (whether malicious or not) for persons with food allergies. The ripple effect can be devastating. Please choose your “inflammatory” comments more wisely; we should all subscribe to “first do no harm.” Comments like these can kill.
May 25, 2009 @ 9:48 pm
The school secretary should not be involved in this at all. The parent should write a letter to the principal and head of special services requesting a meeting to set up a 504 plan for the child.
May 25, 2009 @ 9:57 pm
YEAH YEAH YEAH JUST ALOT OF TALK. UNTIL THE MOMENT YOUR A MOTHER OF A CHILD GASPING FOR BREATH THROUGH CLOSED AIRWAYS BECAUSE OF A PEANUT REACTION. IVE LIVED THE EXPERIENCE 7 TIMES. BEING A MOTHER OF 2 CHILDREN BOTH HAVING ALLERGIES AND BOTH BEING ALLERGIC TO PEANUTS. A FEW YEARS BACK NO ONE UNDERSTOOD. THE SCHOOLS DIDNT AT ALL .I ATTENDED EVERYTHING WHERE FOOD WAS INVOLVED AND MY CHILDREN COULD NEVER BUY LUNCH BECAUSE INGREDIENTS WERENT LISTED LIKE IT IS TODAY.RESTAURANTS COULD HAVE HIDDEN INGREDIENTS LIKE CHILI AND ENCHILADA SAUCE. EATTING OUT WAS A FRIGHTENING EVENT. EVEN THINGS FRIED IN PEANUT OIL.FLYING ON AN AIRPLANE CAN BE FATAL IF PEANUTS ARE NOT PULLED FROM THE FLIGHT. THANKS TO GOD THEY ARE WELL ADULTS(NATURALLY VERY ALLERGIC TO PEANUTS,PEANUT BUTTER AND ALL LEGUMES) AND SO TO ALL WHO DONT CARE………………LET IT BE YOUR CHILD THEN YOULL UNDERSTAND AND YOULL WANT EVERYONE TO TAKE ACTION AND HELP YOU AND LISTEN TO YOU. BUT UNTIL THEN . YEAH YEAH YEAH
May 26, 2009 @ 12:33 am
Ignorance cannot be cured; and neither can deadly food allergies. She has much in common with the “kid” she refers to in her essay. Who cares what she “thinks.” As a Nurse in charge of the health and welfare of students we are only interested in what she can do.
May 26, 2009 @ 12:08 pm
I am devasted after reading the hurtful essay and all of the entries that followed.
I have two children - both with life threatening peanut allergies. Thank God they have never gone into anaphylactic shock. However, it’s not without a great deal of effort on our part, their part….and the part of many others. Some of which work at their school. For instance, their nurse, principal and teachers. I am so grateful that the person who wrote this essay has nothing to do with my children’s school system. I will say, however, that we have encountered people like her and still do every day. Who are these people? Sadly, they are the parents…..and some are the parents of my children’s friends - and it cuts like a knife, just like her essay. These people look at my kids like they are diseased. They look at me like I’m from the planet Mars only because I want to keep my children alive. When I read the essay, all those horrible thoughts and feelings are exactly what I thought of. She appears to be no different from the parents at my children’s school.
The writer of the essay is simply uneducated. Further, from the tone of her essay, she does not sound the least bit interested in BEING educated (on the subject of keeping food allergic children safe). So, if there is no cure for food allergies and education is the only way to keep them safe and ALIVE, then simply said: she does not belong around children.
It looks like she may be identified. If so, I am hopeful she will be removed from her position and find employment minus the children. If not, I am sure that she will be given some sort of mandatory training on food allergies. However, there seemed to be such venom in the tone of her essay that I’m not sure any amount of training would truly change her views. I can’t say that I would be comfortable with her around my children. I obviously don’t know her personally, so if I am wrong, I apologize. I realize these words may be hurtful. Heaven knows I’ve been hurt enough over this subject.
Finally, I simply do not believe the follow-up regarding the ProBlogger assignment. Better to have said nothing further…..
May 26, 2009 @ 1:19 pm
On one hand, I can understand that people who do not have an allergic child may not fully understand this BUT if I was responsible for someone else’s child during the day, you could bet that I would do everything within my power to make sure nothing even remotely similar to a reaction would occur. Is it extra steps? yes. Is it more time-consuming, yes. But being especially careful, especially with another person’s child when they are trusting that you will follow-through with your wishes should be maintained ALWAYS, regardless of your personal opinions. And what justifies a severe reaction- hospitalization? Inability to breath? Death? The steps taken are to avoid this!
May 26, 2009 @ 1:41 pm
I’m getting a little tired of people who don’t believe me, either, when I tell them my son can die that easily and quickly from carelessness on their part. My own in-laws, who witnessed the aftermath of his first anaphalactic reaction that landed him in the hospital for three days when he was only six months old, have decided to blow off precautions as unnecessary and over-the-top. Some people simply think they know better and refuse to be educated further because that would mean they were “wrong” and heaven forbid that ever happen!
I do have one question though: the hand sanitizer. Our allergy specialists have told us that sanitizer is completely ineffective when it comes to making an environment more food allergy-friendly. The offending allergens have to be actually washed off with soap and water; sanitizer will only make the residue less bacterial, not get it off your hands (or other surfaces). So why would that even be a precaution that is asked for? If nothing else, I believe it would make an environment more dangerous because people are thinking that alcohol will rid the surface of an allergen when it in fact won’t. It would give the sufferer a false sense of safety. So why mention it at all?
June 2, 2009 @ 2:18 pm
Has there been any update on this story? Does anyone know?
June 7, 2009 @ 8:09 pm
This hits home to me I have a child with a severe peanut allergy and am having a hard time with my school trying to accomadate my child. The principle has told me 2 time that his daughter will only eat peanut butter sandwiches. My only reactions can be to all the moms or dad out there that have these stupid comments is why don’t you let your child and mine sit together in the cafeteria but instead of your child having a peanut butter sandwich that could kill my child lets give my child a gun or knife and let see what happens. IT IS THE SAME THING, YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN IS THE THE ONE TIME HE COULD DIE. IT COULD BE BECAUSE OF YOUR CHILD AND YOUR INGORANCE.
June 28, 2009 @ 9:31 pm
I don’t remember what site I read this on, but it was a quote from a parent who was travelling on a plane with her child who has a severe peanut allergy: “No one on this plane is going to die if they do not eat peanuts. But my child might if they do.” Something to that effect.
I had to pull my infant son out of his daycare because the director flat out said we could not expect her to inform her staff of my son’s life threatening peanut allergy. Unbelievable.
June 29, 2009 @ 12:57 pm
I was also distrubed by this blog–fiction or non-fiction, makes no difference. I once had a run-in with our middle school secretary who refused to treat my daughter for an allergic reaction because it was not stated in her medical file. Fact was, this was a new, emerging Peanut allergy and we were unprepared. Thankfully, the school nurse pulled the “samaritan-law” card and treated my 7th grader by the time I arrived at the school. But, in light of all of that, this blog does make a valid point (untactfully, I might add):
quote If by now you have not taught your child to take care of themselves and avoid danger - if they can’t carry their own sanitizers, wipe their own table or sit outside under the grass with their peanut-free friends, if they can’t clean their own keyboard, if they can’t function around peanuts, then please, homeschool them. Because, they are not going to be safe at our school even if we do everything you ask.
Those accomodations might work in an elementary school, which is much more self-contained and protected. But, never in a million years will it work in a middle school with 900 kids who come and go during the year, with all the teachers, with substitutes and fluctations in staffing and all the things that come up during the day that might prevent that keyboard cleaning one day.
Not to mention, the second some smart-aleck 13 year old you “educated” about peanut allergies finds out who the kid is, I swear to you that your child is going to be smeared with the deadly substance so fast your head will spin. end quote.
She is right. We have to teach our children to take care of themselves and be self-advocating. My 7th grader began to carry a soapy cloth with her and wiped down her locker handle, and desks before using them. She washed the table and spread out a papertowel under her lunch. If she caught the slightest wiff of peanut, she moved. If she saw it, she moved. She learned to watch out for herself. ….Now, if the school cafeteria chose to serve peanutbutter to the entire school body, then we requested an excused abscence from the principal with an accompaning note from her doctor. It wasn’t safe to expose her to all the contaiminated surfaces after lunch. To expect several hundred 12-14 year olds to wash their hands after lunch is unrealistic.
She also only told her close friends and teachers about her peanut allergy, Because what this blogger also said about the bulling aspect is correct. It happens. You hear about it in the news.
I understand the fear and outrage generated by this blog. This writer fails to realize that the reaction of the next exposure is NOT predictable. One must live as though the next exposure could possibly kill them, because it just might.
Most of the comments written here have been by parents of younger children, just entering the school system or still in elementary school. I agree that K-5 is the time to teach fellow students compassion, to teach the allergic child how to keep themselves safe, and to teach the adults in charge how serious this issue is. It is not impossible to put these practices in place. They are already practiced in plenty of schools around the world. To expect a 5 year old child to protect themselves in the same manner as a 12 year old is impractical.
What we can all learn from this is that it is so necessary to teach our children how to live safely in an unsafe world. Danger lurks around every corner or lunch box. One day they will be out in the job market, eating lunch at a table in the breakroom where someone just ate a PBJ……..it is their life and they need to learn how to survive. With our help, they will!
June 30, 2009 @ 9:12 am
Ignorance scares me. This lady should be fired.
September 24, 2009 @ 1:35 pm
Dear Jaded School Secretary,
Obviously your current position as school secretary has become too overwhelming for you. Hence the less than empathetic tone for our allergic children. I am sure that your Harvard education that prepared you for the vigorous position as “school secretary” left out Allergy and Anaphylaxis 101…or maybe you just over slept from a late night on Greek Row. Woops…you must have skipped class when they went over HIPPA violations as well. As you violated those as well when you were discussing A CHILD’s medical condition. It was Harvard that you attended right… because you really sound so educated…I cannot imagine that you could have attended anywhere else…right genius???
You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. I invite you to educate yourself about anaphylaxis and food allergies in genereal before you go spewing out your hate and lies.
Sincerely,
RB…nurse and aunt of allergic child
January 25, 2010 @ 2:36 pm
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