Peanut Ban in Schools 🚫🥜🏫💉

This thread is ridiculous. Sports has nothing to do with peanut allergies. And if a kid doesn’t like anything but peanut butter, let him eat plain bread. Someone else’s life is at stake.

Syag Lchochma,

I prefer my daughter not eat alone and it’s unrelated to being inconvenienced. On the contrary, I’ve always preferred that I be the one who’s inconvenienced rather than other parents and children. The fact is that kids like mine will often stand out. She frequently has to step out of parties, weddings, class events, etc. because a peanut dish is served. She never complains about it, but I know she does not enjoy the attention. Her friends are very dedicated to her and she’s never alone outside, but she really just wants to be like everyone else. School is one place where she should be safe and allowed to be just a regular kid if it’s possible. Eating alone, even with a couple of friends, smacks a label on her that says “different.” Which she obviously is, but she would like to be able to forget that sometimes.

Also, after what we’ve experienced, I would not feel safe with hundreds of girls eating peanut butter in the lunchroom and then going out to play in the same place as my daughter. Even if they’re told to wash their hands, 100% compliance is not guaranteed, and sometimes clothing can also pick up traces of peanut butter.

I feel like I sound like I expect everyone to bend over backwards for my child, and believe me, that could not be further from the truth. I want to attract as little attention as possible to her allergies and just have her life run seamlessly, but I sometimes have to do things I don’t like to in order to keep her safe.

Shemiras… The parents inform the school of their childs allergies. The school is obligated to keep the child safe in school. The school on its own determines the easiest way (for them) to keep the child safe is to ban peanuts.

If I was a school administrator, faced with a choice between dealing with a potential life threatening situation or a kid who only eats PB sandwiches, i’d opt for the latter. finicky eaters mature, dead kids dont.

Who said anything about eating alone? And why in the world would you direct that at me when I specifically said that they should NOT eat alone. And what is the point of having a conversation when people can’t respectfully read what you say before throwing comments back in your face. I never said eat alone, I was the one who advocated for mental health but was shot down, not always kindly, for thinking a child mental health held a candle to a physical ailment. I stopped reading the posts back up a ways and have no intention to start if I am not only ignored but then afterwards accused of saying stupid things that I not only didn’t say, but advocated against.

As DY said, I’m worried about the physical and emotional health of these children. I’m not worried about the child feeling inconvenienced. I fear for his self esteem. Eating lunch alone, or even getting to pick two friends to eat with, can have detrimental effect.

If you think a thread is ridiculous, stay off it.

Health, are you honestly saying that the wants of a picky eater come before the needs of those allergic?

Lightbrite, soy butter is a lie. It superficially resembles peanut butter, but tastes more like sawdust.

Syag Lchochma,

“Who said anything about eating alone? And why in the world would you direct that at me when I specifically said that they should NOT eat alone. And what is the point of having a conversation when people can’t respectfully read what you say before throwing comments back in your face.”

First of all, I apologize if I did not read your words carefully before responding.

Secondly, I was using the word “alone” loosely to mean not eating where everyone else eats. And that was in response to this:

“In our school, those kids have the privilege of choosing two or three friends a day to have “special lunch” with them in the office. Yes, it actually is very good for that child.”

That really does sound nice for some kids, but again, it is a form of singling out, and we try as much as possible to avoid doing that. There are times when it’s impossible, but in school, I wish that would not be the case. My daughter prefers not to have special privileges. She really just wants to be a regular kid.

Just want to add that I wasn’t saying necessarily that all that justified a peanut ban. For my child, the decision was made based on safety alone. Still, I wanted to point out that that solution might not be optimal for every child.

in regards to this comment:
it is a form of singling out, and we try as much as possible to avoid doing that. .

you may be unaware that the reality is that your child’s name will come up frequently, every week for several years, when requesting, purchasing and packing snacks. I think requesting an entire school to accommodate a child, and then expect the child not to be singled out is a lot to ask.
For my part, I always did my best to make sure it was not presented negatively, but the result really depends on the child and their needs.

“Lightbrite, soy butter is a lie. It superficially resembles peanut butter, but tastes more like sawdust.”

Sunbutter might be somewhat closer to peanut butter in taste.

Syag Lchochma,

“you may be unaware that the reality is that your child’s name will come up frequently, every week for several years, when requesting, purchasing and packing snacks.”

I am aware, and this is one of the reasons I was opposed to a peanut ban lechatchila. But sometimes it’s about choosing the lesser of 2 evils.

Lot -“Many schools today don’t wait for that child; the ban is in place without even having a child with sensitivity to peanuts even enrolled.”

That’s so nice. Do they have a ban on playing sports? If not, why not?!?

Matan1 -“One more time, you can prevent sport injuries with proper precautions. And the worst injuries are not as bad as anaphylaxis.”

How come you don’t read the posts before responding?!?
Let’s see – do high school and college football players wear protective gear? Yes, they do!
So how come they die?!?
And I guess that death is not as bad as anaphylaxis!
And when you retort -“that’s football”- unknown heart conditions & heat-related deaths would apply to all sports. From previous:
“Each year in the U.S. an average of a dozen high school and college football players die during practices and games, according to a new study that finds heart conditions, heat and other non-traumatic causes of death are twice as common as injury-related ones.
Researchers reviewed data from the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research and found 243 football deaths recorded between July 1990 and June 2010.
One hundred of the fatalities resulted from an underlying heart condition, 62 were due to a brain injury – typically a subdural hematoma – and 38 were from heat-related causes, according to findings published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine.”

Edited

Matan1 -“2) Require everyone to have a heart examination before playing”

That’s nice. Which school will implement such a requirement?
And secondly, if you believe in a peanuts’ ban, why not a sports ban?!?
You didn’t read my whole post.
Again from above:
“One hundred of the fatalities … and 38 were from heat-related causes, according to findings published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine.”

Matan1 -“So don’t play in the heat.”

The American Athletic Society states that in 80 degree temperature with 100% humidity, there’s a high chance of getting a heat-related illness! So IDK of any Yeshiva that stops kids from going outside in such a case.

From JEMS:
“Despite enumerable studies on the prevention and treatment of heat illness, EHS not only continues to be a leading cause of death among athletes in the United States, but disturbingly, the incidence is on the rise.”

So again – if you believe in a peanuts’ ban, why not a sports ban?!?

Allowing peanuts in schools enables kids to get married.

DY -“The upside of allowing peanuts in school is not as great.”

Says who? You?!?
The fact is many kids will skip lunch if they can’t eat peanut butter!
Stop with the banning attitude!
Btw, it’s not personal – my kids eat almost anything.

2scents, is’t not a matter of life or death, it’s a matter of school or no school.

RebYidd23, Not sure what your point is, I have not really been following this thread that closely. Seems like a bunch of people that are emotionally invested in their opinions. This topic is not new and there are arguments to be made on both sides.

I just popped in when I saw the reference made to heat-related illnesses, the ones that are life threatening are the severe ones with core body temperatures above 105, for which simple rapid cooling would help.

I was not trying to hijack this thread or steer it off topic.