This morning one of the letters in Dear
Abby’s column is from a parent wanting to know why their child’s school has to
be allergy free simply because one kid of the 20 in the child’s class has a
major food allergy. Why is the school forcing all the kids to follow an allergy
free diet at school rather than helping the one child learn there is food he
can’t eat? (Not exactly worded that way, but it was the jest of the letter.)
Dear Abby’s response was the school’s
stance was to save lives and the parent was just going to have to learn to live
with it (more or less).
When I was in sixth grade I moved. New
school, new friends. One girl lived nearby so we saw her every day. Nearly a year and a half later in seventh
grade we learned she had a peanut allergy when she purposely ate her peanut
butter cookie served with lunch that day so she could get of the rest of the
school day. Yes, she told us she was allergic and was going to eat it anyway
because she wanted to go home.
My daughter is so allergic to some things
just having them in the house can send her into anaphylaxis and I know Bonnie’s
husband had a similar allergic reaction.
I can understand wanting to protect young
kids from the allergens. I really can.
But how is it protecting them if you never
teach them what they can and cannot eat, or how life threatening it is to eat
the food they are allergic to? How are they protected if you don’t show them
how to find out if a food has or is cross contaminated by their allergen? How
is it protecting them if you don’t teach them what to do if they are accidently
exposed to it?
My daughter reads food labels. She keeps
her medicines and epi-pen in her purse. She also keeps it packed with allergy
free food she can eat so she doesn’t go hungry when she’s on campus or anywhere
else. She is always prepared.
People with shellfish allergies like
Bonnie’s husband had learn how to deal with it like he did. He knew he couldn’t
go into a restaurant that served shellfish unless he took his allergies
medications first. Just like my daughter knows that going grocery shopping
(where there is shellfish) means she’ll have to take her allergy medications
first.
Now imagine a child with allergies who has
been coddled their entire life.
At home and school they have never been
exposed to the idea that any foods could have their allergen in it. They may
have been told they have an allergy but they’ve lived their whole life without
ever running into shellfish, peanuts, soy or whatever else they are allergic to
so they have no idea it’s prevalent.
Now they are adults. They’re on their own
or at college and they’re in the grocery store for the first time.
That’s a mine field.
I’ve read food labels. Most every single
commercially produced food in the US has or is cross contaminated with at least
one of the recognized eight major allergens. Most of the few exceptions are
specifically marketed for the allergy free.
I can see protecting these kids. I do know
people who would react just being in the same room. But coddling them? No. They
have to learn to protect themselves sometime.
Now smile. Make the day a brighter day.
