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what do you think about this? RE allergies
so my co-worker sends her two sons (1 and 4 yo) to a pre-school. on friday in their mailbox at the school they got a flier stating that as of today, the whole school is to be nut and dairy free. meaning you cannot send anything containing dairy or nuts (any kind) or anything with a nut or dairy warning on the label.
this is due to one student who has an allergy which has been deemed so severe that the whole school must be nut and dairy free for fear of oils from one student being transferred to a shared item and he could then go in to shock.
they've also decided to cancel all parties because of items sent in by parents which may not meet the nut and dairy free rule and kids are no longer allowed to bring in treats for their birthdays to share.
what do you think about this? do you think its good they are being so strict or a little ridiculous?
Re: what do you think about this? RE allergies
in my opinion, its over the top. i dont think limiting a whole school from being able to eat things which are healthy and a staple of a childs food intake (dairy) is fair to do for one child.
i understand the kid has allergies, and given that i have severe allergies myself, im sympathetic. but as a parent i wouldnt want to inhibit the eating habits or increase the grocery bills of that many other families (65 in this case).
if my child was that allergic i would hire a nanny or if that was not feasible, find an in-home sitter who could better manage the allergy with fewer children until my child was old enough to manage it himself or herself.
I agree and think that is a little over zealous, especially the dairy aspect. I know many schools are going nut free; I do understand that only in the aspect of the oil. Kids touch everything and each other all day long so if they have nut oil on them and a kid is that severly allergic then that is a problem.
Dairy is ridiculous and just parents being lazy. There is no dairy oil and it cannot transfer from one child to another. Teach your child that he/she cannot have those products and make teachers and staff aware of the issues. Children, especially in that young of an age group, should be being monitored anyways when they're eating and drinking.
I also think cancelling birthday celebrations is sad but I get where it comes from. We had a girl in grammar school who was "allergic" to chocolate (all the parents figured out her mother just didn't want her to eat it) so for parties at school you either had to bring something for everyone with no chocolate, bring something special for her or she didn't get one of what you brought if you brought chocolate. Bringing different things for kids with allergies is a lot of work on parents, but you don't want kids feeling excluded either because they're different. It may just be easier to say no treats and maybe acknowledging birthdays just by singing on the day of and getting some kind of extra prize/priviledge that day for being the birthday kid.
yep. and we just had a bag of pretzels and reading the label it says "processed and packaged in a plant where nuts are handled". so, she couldnt even send pretzels.
the thing about it is, if i were the parent of this child, i would do something like you suggested JA...educate others, offer solutions, etc. IMO asking 65 other families to adjust their habits for one child is selfish and unreasonable.
That exactly. I really can't believe the school is going along with this.
I really do understand the allergy thing and no one wants to be "responsible" for what accidentally comes in contact with the child but c'mon. You can't walk on eggshells for one kid. These kids are not going to go through life with everyone so willing to accomodate them. To say an entire school can't bring in milk or nuts (I'm thinking of PB&J's and milk are such a staple in so many children's diets) is going way overboard. I mean, if you think about it, what's next having the food court in the mall not serve nuts and dairy products just in case someone with an allergy comes in contact. I don't see that happening. I know that's a silly example, but that's the only thing I can think of that serves food but doesn't have any restrictions due to allergies.
Bottom line, I feel, is the parents need to prepare their kids on what to eat and how to handle it. Work with their caregivers as additional support but NOT be the main enforcer, if that makes sense.
Sorry, but to me this just seems like another instance where the parents are being irresponsible and depending on others to raise their children...
My Acme Box last update 3/28/11
As a former preschool teacher, I have had to deal with this first hand. I've worked in two different schools, one that supports allergy requests, and one that didn't.
The school that did not support severe allergy cases stated in their welcome packet, as well as their enrollment information that if your child has an allergy the teachers would accomodate it to a certain degree. For instance, there was a child in my class alergic to nuts. We had a snack rotation, so each kid brought snack twice throughout the school year. We simply asked for no nut products and provided a list of acceptable (and affordable) snack choices. For parties, we offered the child with allergies an alternative when necessary. We had a family interested in sending their child to school that had a deathly allergy to dairy and gluten. Our director simply told them that we were not equipped or prepared to ask our parents to make those accomodations. The parents understood, and that was the end of it.
The school that does accept severe allergy cases has made it clear to all parents and teachers that they are a peanut, dairy, and gluten free school. At the beginning of the year parents pay a snack fee, and the school provides snack to ensure that what they purchase follows the guidelines. Parents could care less about this, because they all pay the same fee and that's the end of it. For parties, it's handled the same way-each student pays $3, and the school provides food for the party. If there were allergies other than dairy, gluten, or peanut the parents were responsible for monitoring and noting that. For example, a child in my class was allergic to strawberries. I just made sure no strawberry products were given to him. Easy as pie.
I don't really care how it's handled, I just don't think parents should be responsilbe for checking allergies. If the school decides to accomodate that, they should provide an easy way to handle it.
This school food/allergy thing is one of my UOs. I think schools are stepping way out of line with stuff like this (and I work at a school). Do schools really think they are helping these kids by excluding food from the entire building? When they go out into the real world, they'll have to be armed with their Epi-pens and deal. Why not learn early?? They have instructional aides and medical aides just for these types of things. Get the kid an adult aide to help them make food choices and teach them how to keep themselves safe.
But I am over simplifying it a bit. I just don't have the energy right now to type anything less snarky.