As the new school year begins, so does the debate about banning peanuts from schools. For whatever reason, the mere suggestion that a child will not be allowed to bring a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to school as part of his or her lunch sparks controversy. This is an issue that evokes strong emotions, which are often followed by nasty comments.
In the early months of 2011, Edgewater Elementary school, a public school that is located in Florida, created some school policies that set off a powder keg of controversy. Things started with one little girl, who was in first grade, and who had an allergy to peanuts.
When students returned to school after Spring Break, they learned that some new rules had been put in place. Students now had to wash their hands at the start of the school day, before entering the classroom. After lunch, the students had to wash their hands again, and rinse out their mouths. The purpose of all this extra hygiene was to help prevent the student who had a severe peanut allergy from coming in contact with peanuts while she was attending school.
Several parents objected to having their child have to wash his or her hands while at school. Some parents spread rumors that students were forcibly having their mouths washed out with clorox wipes (which simply wasn’t true).
Parents went so far as to protest, loudly, outside of the school, and to demand that the school remove the girl with the peanut allergy, and require her to be home schooled. If the school complied with this demand, they would have been going against the Americans With Disabilities Act. What is it, exactly, about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches that makes some parents behave in ways that are just plain mean and nasty?
Across the nation, schools will be back in session in a matter of weeks. It is entirely possible that the “Great Peanut Debate” could take place at your child’s school this year. This means that school administrators will have to make a decision about what to do. Should peanuts be banned? Or, should something else be done instead?
Those for the peanut bans are, most often, parents of children who have severe, life-threatening, allergies to peanuts. They completely understand the risk that their child is taking by attending school next to kids who are eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Any amount of peanut that gets into the air could be lethal to a child with peanut allergies.
Their kid could go into anaphylaxis after touching playground equipment that was previously touched by a classmate whose hands were still sticky with peanut butter after lunch was over. This group is simply trying to protect their children, and keep them alive.
Those against the peanut ban are typically groups of parents whose children do not have any severe allergies. These parents are uneducated about exactly how serious an allergic reaction can be, and how quickly a child can die after encountering an allergen.
My best guess is that this group feels that they are protecting their children, by preventing the schools from making their child wash his or her hands after lunch. This group may also feel as through the school doesn’t have the right to tell parents what they can, and can not, pack into their child’s lunches.
Unexpectedly, The Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network does not want schools to ban peanuts. This group believes that it is better to have everyone at school be constantly on guard, wary of having a child experience an allergic reaction, than to assume that everything is safe, because peanuts have been banned. This group is interested in bringing awareness to allergies that can cause anaphylaxis.
Image by Shawn Carpenter on Flickr