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no peanut butter at school?
A coworker and I were idly chatting about food yesterday, and I mentioned how I've been really into peanut butter and jelly (or honey) sandwiches lately. She told me that her kids liked them, but that she couldn't send them to school with them because peanut butter was banned from lunchboxes - all of the other parents in the room agreed with her, so that seems to be true of all the schools in the area. I asked a parent (who is also a teacher) that I know in another state, and she said it was the same way there, too.
I can see the logic - peanut allergies can be lethal and I suppose there's nothing stopping little kids from swapping sandwiches with each other - but at the same time I was really surprised. I don't remember this kind of restriction on any type of food when I was a kid, and in a way it makes me sad that kids can't take whatever they like in their lunchboxes.
Are PBJs banned in the USA too, or is it just an Australian thing?
Re: no peanut butter at school?
I would never have thought about this. I guess it makes sense with all the allergies. I don't know if it's a policy around here.
I agree though - that's sad that the kids can't bring what they like!
That seems so strange to me! I don't have kids, and my friends' children are just getting to be school-age, so I haven't heard much about the peanut allergy issue except on the boards here. Are the allergies really becoming that much more serious/advanced? I guess they must be.
I forgot my lunch one day when I was in elementary school, and I distincly remember the lunch ladies giving me an emergency PB&J sandwich so I wouldn't starve. I suppose that's out of the question now. I feel sad for kids who have such horrible allergies. Growing up is hard enough without delicious peanut butter!
Yeah, this is pretty much par for the course in every child-related place now hon. Maya isn't allowed to bring ANY food to her daycare (I have her in 2 days a week), let alone any nut products.
I figure it's easier and safer for them to do a blanket ban on all food, because kids have allergies to all sorts of things. They DO provide all snacks and meals though.
I DO think it's a shame that kids can't bring anything they want to eat at schools etc now but I know if Maya or bub#2 had a severe allergy, I would be thankful for the ban.
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I was going to ask this. I mean, at some point, the child (even in elementary school) needs to realize what he/she can't have and take responsibility for it. I know we had kids in my classes growing up that were allergic to chocolate (those POOR kids!) or peanuts or milk or whatever, but we certainly didn't have any sort of ban on bringing those products to school.
ok off soap box... sorry!
Oh I totally get the reasoning - I guess it just strikes me as odd because I know a number of parents in the USA who don't want their kids to eat the food provided by the daycare/school, which can be stuff that is highly processed, etc. (the parents may want their kids to eat organic snacks, for example).
I do agree with some of the pps that it seems like at some point, the student would have start watching themsevles what they eat - not necessarily as a small child (like in daycare or preschool), but after a certain age it seems like they should be able to identify what they can and can't have...for example, my coworker's kids are between 7-11, and I guess I thought it was strange that at that age, there was still a schoolwide ban on certain foods since a 10 year old is perfectly capable of identifying a peanut and understanding that they can't eat that. Do you know if the bans are lifted after a certain age (like in high school)?
They aren't lifted in our high schools. If you have a child who is seriously allergic to trace elements of the nut, and eats in the same cafeteria seat as someone who did eat it, then you could have a serious emergency on your hands.
By the time they get to junior high, they need to be responsible for carrying their own epi-pen (we have two in the main office), and to know how to use it.
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I've heard that it is a policy at some US (and Canadian!) schools. I guess if a student has a fatal allergy to it, the parent can request the school to put a policy like that in place? It's not just from eating PB or nuts either. If it's serious enough, ppl can get a reaction just from touching nut oil (say on a door handle). It's really scary stuff.
I know at the Uni where I work, they have summer camps in the summer for kids and that particular building is a peanut and sesame-free zone.
I took PB to school as a kid all the time. I don't recall there being any restrictions on food either. I wonder if more kids have allergies these days? Kind of seems like it...
*sigh* I miss grape jelly...
I'm thinking about walking to the store to get some!
It always baffles me that the human race has developed these types of crazily severe allergies. Scientifically, I have to wonder why that is? Did we just not hear about this years ago, but it was around (I certainly don't remember EVER hearing about these type of reaction years ago)? Or have these types of allergies evolved, and why? I have absolutely no theories, I just have to wonder.....
I haven't heard of it being "banned", but I do have a co-worker who has a daughter has a lot of food allergies...all tree nuts and other allergies. They don't have a "no peanut butter" policy but they do have a peanut free table at their school so all the kids that have these allergies sit there together at lunch and eat.
I get the idea of it because it's very lethal if consumed, but it just makes me sad to know these kids cannot eat lunch with their friends who do not have this allergy
I still can't wrap my head around how it's become such a big thing with children these days, but I guess it is what is until there can be a resolution...
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I wonder this same thing. Kind of like the autism thing. Where and why did it become so much more common now compared to just 20 years ago? Evolution takes a long long time right? Hmmmm?
I think that for autism, it's not so much that it's more common now as that it didn't actually exist as a diagnosis until relatively recently (before then, most of these poor kids were just "badly behaved"). So I'm not sure that it's actually grown more common vs it's just being recognized now.
But for allergies, yeah, it seems like they are becoming more common. I've read that the reason people develop hayfever etc more these days is because they're exposed to fewer plants (growing up in a city vs a farm), but I'm not sure if/how that applies to food allergies.