So it's just a case of being over reported in the media perhaps?
Add to this the fact that the "politically correct" nanny world we live in is run by the minority dejour with the squeakiest wheel. We can't possibly endanger any one or offend anyone, except the vast majority.
Hey, how about the option of telling the allergic kid NOT to eat peanuts?
The problem is that some kids are so severely allergic to peanuts that if they breathe peanut, even in that tiny an amount, they go into anaphylactic shock.
At my daughter's former public elementary school, they had peanut-free zones and IIRC, there were eight kids at her school who were severely allergic to peanuts.
I had to pack a lunch for her anyway because they had some sort of corn in almost every main dish they served. Even on Domino Pizza Fridays, Domino Pizzas have cornmeal in the pizza crust. Their chicken nuggets had cornmeal in the breading. They had a deli sandwich on the menu some days and the roll they typically used was multigrain with corn in it, although I could go in ahead of time and request they use a different roll for her sandwich. If she wanted to eat in the cafeteria, which she usually wanted to do on macaroni and cheese days, I had to go check out the ingredients in every item first. I think I put $20 in her lunch account at the beginning of the year and there was still money left at the end of the year.
So, how is that an argument against my position?
You have just made half of my argument for me.
Why the PHuck don't they "corral" That fucking kid, instead of making life less fulfilling for all the rest of the kids??>?
FFS, this is supposed to be a place where "like-minded people" can learn to survive. Why in creation do we succumbed to the LCD (math reference) in our push towards the future?
It's not enough for some children just not to
eat peanuts, they can't even
breathe them either.
So if I sent a peanut butter sandwich for my daughter to eat for lunch, it could literally kill another child if they were that severely allergic to peanuts.
That is why some schools have gone peanut-free.
The school my daughter attended was not peanut-free, but they did have peanut-free zones in the cafeteria to corral the allergic children together, like you are talking about.
If another child brings treats to school (like for their birthday), the teachers usually let the parents of the child with food allergies know ahead of time so they can send in an alternative treat for their child.
If I send in treats for my daughter, I ask the teachers if there are any food allergies among her classmates so I can accomodate them as well because I hate for a child to feel left out. She has a couple of classmates on the gluten-free and casein-free diet, so I have sent in GFCF (and corn-free) sugar cookies for the whole class. I found a really good GFCF sugar cookie recipe on the internet and it's difficult to even taste that they are GFCF.
I don't know what happens to children with such severe peanut allergies when they grow up and become adults.
My husband is very allergic to bee stings and has been since he was a child, but he tries to avoid being stung and he has an Epi-Pen.