First, we got *the letter* from preschool.
It reads, in part:
-Please note that our classroom must be a nut-free environment due to the life-threatening allergies of one of our students. It is our desire to create a safe and healthy environment for this little one. There are other food products to which the child is allergic, but to a lesser degree. We appreciate the kind care that we know you will all display on behalf of this child. If you send a snack for a special occasion, please be sure it free of all nut products. It would also be very helpful if you would send a list of the ingredients in the snack, including brand names, so we may be sure it does not contain one of the other food intems to which the child is allergic.
I used their exact wording, including italics and bolding. I thought is was a decent way to get the message to parents (the letter is the monthly newsletter the school sends).
Now, I posted this on one forum, and while there has been MUCH MUCH MUCH debate, and many heated discussions, I posted it as a possibility of how the situation could be handled in a polite, pleasant way. Parents are apprised of the situation, and ASKED to cooperate in helping the school and family manage this allergy--which is, in part, how the child in question will learn to deal with his or her allergy in time.
My premise is that a child of 3 or 4 years of age simply CANNOT deal with this entirely on his or her own--even the most mature and capable child is not going to be able to police all products he or she comes in contact with on their own--a 3 or 4 year old child.
Certainly, a child of 4 can be expected to know that he or she cannot eat these products and can even be relatively relied upon to communicate to others--children and adults--that he or she may die because of it due to an allergic reaction. BUT, he or she is still a child, and a child of that age cannot be relied on to have the reasoning skills and ability to be as viligant as an adult.
It's up to the adults in the world to realize this.
In all honesty, it effects us very little, as the Howler doesn't eat nuts. She doesn't eat much chocolate and she doesn't eat cake, or most pastry. So, barring the numerous other products that she might eat that would contain peanut oils and such, I'd have to say, geez, louise, this is was a fairly decent way to make me aware, and to ask me how I can help.
If it were my child, I'd hope that others would respect it, and understand that my goal would be to have help in teaching and protecting my child.
I would not expect to have my child ostracized or not allowed to attend schools and such based on it. No one would consider it silly if it were a disease or disability.
While I also think, generally speaking, America has bent over backward to accommodate a few with needs out-of-the-norm and we've made it so that any nutjob (pardon the pun) can come along and inconvenience whomever he or she pleases because "It will make me sick."
I think that, for adults, you need to understand that while *you* are special, I'm not your mama and I'm not going to adjust my entire life to suit *you*. Learn to deal with life and people and the public, or stay home.
But when we're talking about a child, one who could die because of stubborn pig-headedness, I think we need to evaluate WHY we're being so self-centered.
If my child had special dietary needs, I'd hope that the school would be able to help work with us.
Again, it's not fair to ostracize a child, and it's not right to expect a 3 or 4 year old to manage their own condition.
IF the Howler were still in need of breathing treatments, I'd expect that the school would be having an aide or someone learn how to help her administer them, and they'd use it as an opportunity to teach the other children as well. We haven't been in that position, but if we ever were.....
It's a shame that I can't post something, like that paragraph from a letter, on a topic like that with out it becoming a debate about the "nut free environment" instead of a discussion about how the school CAN help families teach their children about managing medical conditions.
I'm also appalled that the people doing the loudest braying about this are the very ones who shriek for special treatment for their own reasons...
It reads, in part:
-Please note that our classroom must be a nut-free environment due to the life-threatening allergies of one of our students. It is our desire to create a safe and healthy environment for this little one. There are other food products to which the child is allergic, but to a lesser degree. We appreciate the kind care that we know you will all display on behalf of this child. If you send a snack for a special occasion, please be sure it free of all nut products. It would also be very helpful if you would send a list of the ingredients in the snack, including brand names, so we may be sure it does not contain one of the other food intems to which the child is allergic.
I used their exact wording, including italics and bolding. I thought is was a decent way to get the message to parents (the letter is the monthly newsletter the school sends).
Now, I posted this on one forum, and while there has been MUCH MUCH MUCH debate, and many heated discussions, I posted it as a possibility of how the situation could be handled in a polite, pleasant way. Parents are apprised of the situation, and ASKED to cooperate in helping the school and family manage this allergy--which is, in part, how the child in question will learn to deal with his or her allergy in time.
My premise is that a child of 3 or 4 years of age simply CANNOT deal with this entirely on his or her own--even the most mature and capable child is not going to be able to police all products he or she comes in contact with on their own--a 3 or 4 year old child.
Certainly, a child of 4 can be expected to know that he or she cannot eat these products and can even be relatively relied upon to communicate to others--children and adults--that he or she may die because of it due to an allergic reaction. BUT, he or she is still a child, and a child of that age cannot be relied on to have the reasoning skills and ability to be as viligant as an adult.
It's up to the adults in the world to realize this.
In all honesty, it effects us very little, as the Howler doesn't eat nuts. She doesn't eat much chocolate and she doesn't eat cake, or most pastry. So, barring the numerous other products that she might eat that would contain peanut oils and such, I'd have to say, geez, louise, this is was a fairly decent way to make me aware, and to ask me how I can help.
If it were my child, I'd hope that others would respect it, and understand that my goal would be to have help in teaching and protecting my child.
I would not expect to have my child ostracized or not allowed to attend schools and such based on it. No one would consider it silly if it were a disease or disability.
While I also think, generally speaking, America has bent over backward to accommodate a few with needs out-of-the-norm and we've made it so that any nutjob (pardon the pun) can come along and inconvenience whomever he or she pleases because "It will make me sick."
I think that, for adults, you need to understand that while *you* are special, I'm not your mama and I'm not going to adjust my entire life to suit *you*. Learn to deal with life and people and the public, or stay home.
But when we're talking about a child, one who could die because of stubborn pig-headedness, I think we need to evaluate WHY we're being so self-centered.
If my child had special dietary needs, I'd hope that the school would be able to help work with us.
Again, it's not fair to ostracize a child, and it's not right to expect a 3 or 4 year old to manage their own condition.
IF the Howler were still in need of breathing treatments, I'd expect that the school would be having an aide or someone learn how to help her administer them, and they'd use it as an opportunity to teach the other children as well. We haven't been in that position, but if we ever were.....
It's a shame that I can't post something, like that paragraph from a letter, on a topic like that with out it becoming a debate about the "nut free environment" instead of a discussion about how the school CAN help families teach their children about managing medical conditions.
I'm also appalled that the people doing the loudest braying about this are the very ones who shriek for special treatment for their own reasons...
1 comment:
As one of the ones braying the loudest, I just keep thinking of how much damage that would do on my budget and how unfair it is to the rest of the kids. I know that my daughter would have refused to eat anything other than PB&J back then.
I honestly think that this particular child would be better served by eating his or her meal with the teachers or something. Otherwise s/he's learning that HIS/HER needs come before everyone elses.
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