Banning Peanuts is Simply Nutty

This may sound crazy coming from the parent of a child who is severely allergic to peanut products, but banning peanut butter in public schools or anywhere else is simply nutty. Don't get me wrong. Peanut allergy is a severe, life-threatening condition and should be taken seriously. Our family has lived with it every day for 16 years and have experienced five (5) life-threatening allergic reactions along the way. I am so thankful for the heightened awareness of peanut allergy and its dangers in recent years, and I've always felt it would be wonderful if every school would eliminate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and replace them with something else, and eliminate nuts and peanuts from their baked goods. These two steps alone would do wonders for the food allergic child as well as the teachers and school staff. However, despite the danger of this life-threatening form of food allergy called anaphylaxis, there are a number of reasons not to pursue a complete ban on peanut products in the schools. These reasons are all equally important, so they are not listed in order of importance:

A ban on peanut products would lead to resentment. The last thing any child needs is to be resented or ostracized by his peers, especially if he already feels different, which most food-allergic children do. There are so many children who love peanut butter and many parents who depend on peanut butter as a source of inexpensive nourishment for their children. Banning peanut products would only cause resentment toward the allergic child and problems for everyone involved.

A ban on peanut products would lead to a false sense of security. If a school or school district banned peanut products, the peanut-allergic child would have every reason to take the situation for granted and would have no reason to learn about his allergies. When the child is out of that protected environment, the consequences could be deadly. The allergic child would not know how to handle his allergy in the real world. An allergic reaction is much more likely to happen when a person is uneducated about the problem. Many allergic reactions happen to those who are educated about the allergy, so you can imagine how risky it is to be in the dark about the problem. Ultimately, it should be the parents' responsibility to educate the child and the child's teachers and caregivers so the child is as safe as possible outside the home. There are sources available for help in successfully carrying out this monumental task.

A ban on peanut products would be too hard to monitor. Banning peanut products is more complicated than not allowing peanut butter at school. There are many products with hidden peanut ingredients, like peanut oil and peanut flour, not to mention the likelihood of cross contamination in products like nuts, cookies, chocolate and other foods that may be processed on shared equipment with peanut products. Who would monitor each food item coming in and out of the school? This problem goes hand-in-hand with the previously mentioned problem of a false sense of security. What if something sneaks in that has peanut residue, peanut particles or peanut ingredients? The allergic child would feel so safe about the peanut ban that he would have no reason to question what foods he is eating. This is a dangerous situation indeed and one that should be avoided at all costs.

And last but not least, where do you draw the line? Granted, peanut allergy is an extremely serious allergy and should be handled very carefully and diligently on a daily basis. However, there are other food allergies that can be just as severe. What about children with severe allergies to milk products, wheat, soy or shellfish, to name a few? Are the schools prepared to ban these products as well? Or what about students who are allergic to bee stings? These children can have the same type of life-threatening allergic reaction as children with food allergies. Would there be a ban on recess so the allergic child would not get stung at school? It's hard to know where to draw the line when it comes to this issue.

Instead of banning peanut products in the schools, why not develop an educational program district wide and even nationwide, to educate faculty as well as students. Children are like sponges. They absorb an unbelievable amount of information. Most children would be able to learn and understand a great deal about food allergies and could be a tremendous help in keeping the allergic children safe at school. This promotes teamwork, not resentment, and I have to think this would be a better environment for everyone.

It is extremely important that an allergic child be educated about his allergies, even if it is scary for him. It is possible to educate an allergic child and promote a respect for the allergy without scaring the child so much that he is afraid to function outside the home. Again, it is ultimately the parents' responsibility to educate those involved, but this is a difficult job to do alone. The school districts could be a tremendous help to those families with food allergic children if they had a district wide plan in place.

Many young children with food allergies are very responsible children when it comes to their restrictions, and in some ways they are mature beyond their years because of what they have gone through. However, most of them feel "different" or "weird" because of their allergies. If the schools were involved in this educational process, the allergic children might not feel so different and singled out.

With each passing year, school districts will see more and more children with food allergies entering their schools. Now is the time to develop an educational program and protocol for dealing with this situation. It is far better to develop a long-term plan rather than to provide an ineffective quick fix to the serious and escalating problem of food allergies.