Parents Protest School's Peanut Policy

As a parent with a child with a peanut allergy this makes me angry. People are worried about the lack of snacks available for children during class room parties? Requests to wash hands and rise out mouths?
There is a severe lack of information to the general public about peanut allergies. Let me first start with the pointing out a peanut allergy is not a food intolerance, children/person with it WILL die when they come into contact with it. It is more than just oil from peanuts and nuts left behind on hands and surfaces.

Children with allergies often have high levels of antibodies (IgE). Antibodies are produced by the body to eliminate large body parasites. In the case of an allergy the antibodies mistake the allergen for a parasite. After a person has become sensitized to an allergy chemicals released into the blood stream produce the allergic symptoms. The chemical being (histamine). A person who is highly allergic has an anaphylactic reaction and it is that reaction that can kill them.

This is important to know because it helps other differentiate between allergies and intolerances. Intolerance to food does not involve an allergic response and there are no IgE antibodies produced! For parents that do not have children with allergies they often do not have this knowledge and cannot understand!

It is also important to point out that peanut oil is not the only way for someone to come into contact with an allergen. SMELL alone can invoke a reaction. Imagine the smell of baking peanut butter cookies, the smell of a peanut butter sandwich on someone else’s breath KILLING a child! A nut product can be smelt on a person’s breath SIX HOURS after eaten!

Do we want to discuss the different types of allergic reactions? Immediate is simple, direct contact directly affecting the person with the allergy. There is also a Late Phase Reaction that happens when more immune cells (antibodies) are attracted to the area that causes more inflammation until filtered out. It happens 4 to 12 hours after the exposure and symptoms can last about a day. Type III Hypersensitivity occurs when circulating immune allergens are carried around in the blood and are deposited in blood vessels which causes inflammation in areas such as the skin, kidney, and joints.

While these parents protest their own child’s discomfort and the inconvenience of washing hands perhaps they should consider how painful these lasting effects can be on a child with an allergy that is exposed? Even more important think about how you would feel if your child died because someone didn't like the idea of increased hand washing! Shame on them! There are many compromises that can be made and if it is classroom snacks that are an issue it isn’t hard for parents that need to shop for food without peanuts and nuts, we do the research. Take the time they have protested and use it like any concerned parent would in finding a compromise or solution in buying products without peanuts and nuts.

Let’s go even further, do they know how isolated these children with allergies feel? Imagine just a second! A life that is limited because of an allergy is enough for anyone to have to face. Why do these children with allergies need to witness grown adults with no respect for their discomfort or safety! At the same time as being forced to sit alone segregated from other students.

Families that deal with allergies do not need this extra strain put on our families, we are busy enough fighting for our child’s rights. The right for an education and the right to a safe environment. While it is easy to practice NO PEANUTS/NUTS in elementary schools with the increase in the amount of allergies growing it has become a common practice. There are still many issues to resolve, but as some our children with peanut and nuts allergies enter into secondary schools our families have another problem to face. How many of our secondary schools offer culinary classes that continue to bake products with peanuts and nuts. It is absurd that this has not yet been addressed in all of our schools!

As a parent with a child with a peanut allergy this makes me angry. People are worried about the lack of snacks available for children during class room parties? Requests to wash hands and rise out mouths?
There is a severe lack of information to the general public about peanut allergies. Let me first start with the pointing out a peanut allergy is not a food intolerance, children/person with it WILL die when they come into contact with it. It is more than just oil from peanuts and nuts left behind on hands and surfaces.

Children with allergies often have high levels of antibodies (IgE). Antibodies are produced by the body to eliminate large body parasites. In the case of an allergy the antibodies mistake the allergen for a parasite. After a person has become sensitized to an allergy chemicals released into the blood stream produce the allergic symptoms. The chemical being (histamine). A person who is highly allergic has an anaphylactic reaction and it is that reaction that can kill them.

This is important to know because it helps other differentiate between allergies and intolerances. Intolerance to food does not involve an allergic response and there are no IgE antibodies produced! For parents that do not have children with allergies they often do not have this knowledge and cannot understand!

It is also important to point out that peanut oil is not the only way for someone to come into contact with an allergen. SMELL alone can invoke a reaction. Imagine the smell of baking peanut butter cookies, the smell of a peanut butter sandwich on someone else’s breath KILLING a child! A nut product can be smelt on a person’s breath SIX HOURS after eaten!

Do we want to discuss the different types of allergic reactions? Immediate is simple, direct contact directly affecting the person with the allergy. There is also a Late Phase Reaction that happens when more immune cells (antibodies) are attracted to the area that causes more inflammation until filtered out. It happens 4 to 12 hours after the exposure and symptoms can last about a day. Type III Hypersensitivity occurs when circulating immune allergens are carried around in the blood and are deposited in blood vessels which causes inflammation in areas such as the skin, kidney, and joints.

While these parents protest their own child’s discomfort and the inconvenience of washing hands perhaps they should consider how painful these lasting effects can be on a child with an allergy that is exposed? Even more important think about how you would feel if your child died because someone didn't like the idea of increased hand washing! Shame on them! There are many compromises that can be made and if it is classroom snacks that are an issue it isn’t hard for parents that need to shop for food without peanuts and nuts, we do the research. Take the time they have protested and use it like any concerned parent would in finding a compromise or solution in buying products without peanuts and nuts.

Let’s go even further, do they know how isolated these children with allergies feel? Imagine just a second! A life that is limited because of an allergy is enough for anyone to have to face. Why do these children with allergies need to witness grown adults with no respect for their discomfort or safety! At the same time as being forced to sit alone segregated from other students.

Families that deal with allergies do not need this extra strain put on our families, we are busy enough fighting for our child’s rights. The right for an education and the right to a safe environment. While it is easy to practice NO PEANUTS/NUTS in elementary schools with the increase in the amount of allergies growing it has become a common practice. There are still many issues to resolve, but as some our children with peanut and nuts allergies enter into secondary schools our families have another problem to face. How many of our secondary schools offer culinary classes that continue to bake products with peanuts and nuts. It is absurd that this has not yet been addressed in all of our schools!