Parents gone nuts!
Okay, technically peanuts aren’t nuts. They’re legumes, and for those with severe peanut allergies, they can be fatal. (The majority of deadly or near deadly anaphylactic reactions in the U.S.are due to peanut reactions.)
A group of parents in Edgewater, Florida are protesting and picketing at their children’s elementary school.The Edgewater, Elementary parents aren’t objecting to budget cuts and teacher lay-offs. They’re asking that a first grader with an extreme, life-threatening peanut allergy leave and be home-schooled. One of the placards they carried read, “Our Kids Have Rights Too.”
This sounds mean-spirited: parents wanting to expel a girl who, if she even smells peanuts, could end up in the hospital. The reason, say the protesting parents, is that the measures taken by the Volusa County School District are so extreme. They have a point.
In the morning and after lunch, kids must wash their hands and rinse their mouths out before entering the classroom. Teachers must regularly clean desks with Clorox wipes. Peanut products are banned, as are any snacks in the classroom and outside food for school parties. A peanut-sniffing dog was brought into the school.
“On average, it’s probably taking a good 30 minutes out of the day,” said parent Carrie Starkey in an interview.“That’s my child’s education. Thirty minutes could be a whole subject.”
In the other corner of the ring is David Bailey, the father of the girl with the allergy. “We’ve fought very hard to put certain things in place… to keep her alive… in school. . . She’s already a cast-out,” he told FoxNews. “She can’t do things that most kids can do.”
I actually see both parents’ position, because to some degree, I’ve been both parents. When my teenage son was very young, he had asthma and extreme reactions to some foods, testing positive to several nuts, as well as dairy and eggs. For a couple years, we had scary episodes that ended up at the emergency room; we carried an EpiPen and Benadryl at all times. Over the years, he outgrew his asthma and allergies. Now, at his school, there’s a “No peanut zone” where the kids eat. When I saw the new sign last year, I did some eye-rolling and joked with friends. How quickly I’d forgotten what it was like to be other parent.
Late this week, the parents asking the girl to leave have won a small victory: Students no longer have to rinse their mouths out. I wonder if they’ll keep up with their demands. Yes, they have a point. All these accomodations (which the school is legally obliged to make) are a drag and take time from the school day, that then takes away from “learning.” In the meantime, what are the kids of the protesting parents – who want to cast out a girl who already is dealing with so much – teaching their kids?
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