Iwritecode

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 21, 2012 -> 04:03 PM) Disclosure: I may have a small bias as I find nothing on the planet more disgusting than a kid with food smeared on their face (not a baby but a school-aged child) and the worst is with peanut butter. Gross. Especially when you are wearing clean pants and they want to give you a hug...

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 21, 2012 -> 03:56 PM) Sure, the child is literally different from the norm. That sort of stuff can stick, though, and make you a target for years. Children can be absolutely terrible to each other for the dumbest reasons. I just don't see how trying to fix it and saying no you're really equal to everyone else really does any good. It's kinda like those participation trophies kids get to make it "fair" for everyone. I got a few when I played sports. They didn't make me feel any better. I knew they weren't nearly as good as the first and second place trophies the other kids got.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 21, 2012 -> 03:51 PM) Boo-f***ing-hoo, welcome to life on earth! Will you be just as cool with your proposed "Deal with it" solution if your child is sent to a separate room by themselves for lunch every day for years? Or is this all some misplaced nostalgia for lunchroom snacks?? I wonder if any of these kids get picked on by the other kids because they were the ones that caused them to not be able to bring a PB&J sandwich to lunch anymore. It's a hypothetical situation but I can totally see it happening.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 21, 2012 -> 03:47 PM) I would be concerned about the aforementioned ostracization and othering. "This child is different, he must go eat by himself" can be a pretty powerful message to send about a particular child. If a child has an affliction that only affects 1% of the population it's OK to tell him he's different that most of his classmates because he actually is. He'll learn it eventually sooner or later. Like I said, kids are pretty damn resilient and tend to figure out things on there own pretty well. It's when the adults get involved that things get all messed up. I tell my kids that they are weirdos all the time and they enjoy it because they actually strive to be different. I have 3 girls but you wouldn't know it because they hate all typical "girl" things like Justin Beiber, Hanna Montana, frilly dresses and anything pink. They'd rather watch Japanese anime and play Pokemon on their DS.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 21, 2012 -> 03:38 PM) I don't necessarily have a problem with an individual administrator making that choice. I would not be happy with that solution if it were my child, but I would work with the school to come up with the best solution. Why exactly?

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 21, 2012 -> 03:13 PM) Ostracizing and othering a child is a pretty big inconvenience. Asking parents to come up with alternatives to PB&J is not. Yet I know of at least one school that choose the former rather than the latter and no lawsuits were filed and it didn't become a major story. The kid dealt with it just fine. He was even one of the "severe" cases that couldn't be in the same room as others with peanut butter. That's the original point I was trying to make. We are so worried about teaching kids that everyone is equal and nobody should ever be treated differently that we come up with some pretty odd rules. Kids aren't really as fragile as some people think they are.

QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Sep 21, 2012 -> 02:00 PM) I had to take it a few years ago when I renewed my license as well. Wasn't expecting it. Was worried for a second about passing it until I started going through it to realize it's the easiest test ever. It really is. I didn't even glance at the Rules of the Road book and I got 100% on it. Most of the time the answer is obvious. I remember one that was something like: When you approach an intersection with pedestrians in the crosswalk you should: A) slow down until they are safely across B) speed up C) flash your lights and honk your horn.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Sep 21, 2012 -> 02:30 PM) OMG! A local school administrator slightly overreacted! That's usually the root of these stories. That's why kids are getting suspended for having a plastic key-chain that looks like a gun or bring a plastic knife in their lunch.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Sep 21, 2012 -> 02:20 PM) http://www.areawidenews.com/story/1893038.html Here's where it all started. One ("or more") student had a severe nut allergy. They banned all peanut/nut products from the school. It's been in place for six years, beyond the time the kid was at that school. So it's gone from a specific ban to protect a student (arguably acceptable, but not IMO) to a blanket ban just in case others have allergies. I was wondering if these schools would take the ban away after the student has left the school or if the next school the student went to would implement the ban. In our district they don't stay in any one school longer than 3 years unless they fail a grade.

I had to take the written test last year when I renewed my license.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Sep 21, 2012 -> 01:15 AM) we f*** ourselves in the foot. Never heard that one before.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Sep 21, 2012 -> 10:11 AM) Right, they couldn't have the school make minor accommodations for him. You can for peanut allergies. I think it's actually more common for the school to separate the one kid from everyone else during lunch rather than ban peanut butter completely. I've only heard of a handful of schools with a peanut butter ban.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Sep 21, 2012 -> 09:50 AM) This is just idiotic to the nth degree. My kid can die from touching peanuts? Hmm. I'll quit my job, stop paying rent, and go to the soup kitchen for my meals just so I can home school. I can't think of a simpler solution so I'll just have to do this. I've seen a story on a kid that was allergic to sunlight. I'm pretty sure his parents had to find a way to change their lives to deal with it. They couldn't just send him out and hope that he would be ok.

You also get into the problem of finding something else for the kids to eat. I remember in grade school I pretty much lived on PB&J sandwiches every single day because I wouldn't eat anything else.

QUOTE (bmags @ Sep 20, 2012 -> 04:59 PM) But the issue isn't kids with peanut allergies grabbing a peanut butter sandwich because he feels left out. It's that peanut residue can be on the table they eat at, and get digested by the kids. That can happen literally anywhere in public that kids are. Playgrounds, restrooms, restaurants, friends houses...

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Sep 21, 2012 -> 06:01 AM) Still doesn't mean I think the entire world needs to adapt to my kid. It's logic like this that confuses and annoys me. This is more entitlement minded bulls***..."my kid is sooo important that I'm entitled to everyone else having to change what they can eat/do while around them". How about no...I want no part of that. Would that be the best of situations for any parent, including myself? Hell no, of course not. But on the flip side, I don't want my kid living in a bubble wrapped world...but that's exactly what you just asked for. If my kid has some sort of deficiency to THAT insane of a degree, I'd home school them, because who's to say some kid won't bring some peanut butter to school and do it anyway just to see what happens?! Oh, that's right...nothing. In other words, there is danger out there...and if you don't want them to ever be in any potential danger, wrap them in a bubble and keep them indoors and lifeless throughout your days...but this is no alternative IMO. This. Especially the home-schooling part. If a kid is that severely allergic to something, why take the risk at all? Usually if they are that sensitive to it, it's not just peanut butter. It's anything that has peanuts in it. Granola bars, trail mix, snickers bars, cereal... Should they ban all that stuff from lunches too?

I assume the water that comes out of the water fountains at my work comes from Lake Michigan and it tastes awful. I get water from the water cooler instead. When we go camping we are forced to use bottled water because all the water at the campground comes out smelling like rotten eggs. We even use a house filter on our trailer and it doesn't help much.

I think it's more important to teach kids to be careful and watch out for themselves rather than to teach them that the world will watch out for them. They aren't going to be able to walk into any grocery store, restaurant, lunchroom, house, etc... and tell everyone there "Hey I'm allergic to ______ so nobody else here can have it."

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Sep 20, 2012 -> 01:30 PM) But where do you draw the line on this? Peanut Butter, Nuts, Honey? While more common, there ARE other allergies out there...such as dairy, etc...should we just ban all food because of such a possibility? We all made it through school eating peanut butter...kids that were allergic to it...well, they just didn't eat it. We also used to have classroom parties for Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's day, etc... One of my best friends in grade school was a Jehovah's witness. On the days of these parties, he just wouldn't participate. It was never a big deal. They don't have any classroom parties anymore for the same basic reasoning. "If my child can't have it, nobody can". Like I said it's getting ridiculous.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ Sep 20, 2012 -> 12:54 PM) I think the schools would rather eliminate the possibilty of a screwup completely rather than get gutted in a lawsuit because a dumb teacher/lunch lady gave the wrong kid a sandwich with pb on it and have the kid die in front of his/her classmates. I know what you are saying, I wish people could all be infallible after being taught things, but people screw up a lot. I've heard of schools banning it completely so that other kids can't even bring a PB&J sandwich from home.

QUOTE (justBLAZE @ Sep 19, 2012 -> 10:13 PM) I don't think so.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Sep 20, 2012 -> 12:16 PM) Oh yeah I missed that. I thought it was a "we have to make single parent kids feel like they're the same despite the fact that they're not so let's cancel the event for everyone." I didn't realize it was a gender stereotyping issue. That's even more f***ed up. That's exactly how it started though.

QUOTE (Alpha Dog @ Sep 20, 2012 -> 11:38 AM) You all missed half the point. The ACLU was saying that the schools had no business in trying to 'force' these gender stereotypes that all girls want a dance or that all guys want to play sports. So the mere fact that it is daddy-daughter dance, and not parent-kid dance is one of the complaints. It's only an issue if they weren't allowing moms to bring their daughters to the dances or dads to bring their sons to the baseball game. I have yet to read if this is true or not.

QUOTE (Jenksismyb**** @ Sep 20, 2012 -> 11:02 AM) I think his point was that instead of giving kids with nut allergies something different than peanut butter, schools have decided to just not give peanut butter to anyone so that the kids with the allergy don't feel left out or different. ^^^ That's exactly what I meant. QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Sep 20, 2012 -> 11:16 AM) That makes more sense. I read it like, "Any kid with peanut allergies, go sit in this corner of the lunchroom, so the normal kids can eat what they want" Actually, at my daughter's school that's exactly what they do. She told me that at least one kid has to sit in a completely separate lunchroom. Surprisingly, the kid's parents haven't complained to the school that they need to completely ban peanut butter and all other products that may contains nuts. Instead they let their kid know that he's a little different than all the other kids so he has to do things a different way and it's OK.

I just took my daughter to a father/daughter dance last year. She had a great time. I didn't really pay attention but I'm sure if any of the girls came with someone other than their father they weren't denied entrance. This thinking by parents of "If my kid can't have it then why should anyone's kid" is getting ridiculous. They act like it's some horrible thing for their kid to learn that they may be different than everyone else and not everyone gets treated exactly the same. This is just as bad as schools banning peanut butter from lunchrooms because one kid is allergic to it rather than separating out the single kid. I hate to see when these kids grow up and realize that the rest of the world doesn't always conform to them and they have to deal with it.