School Lunch Rant

[Mattchew]

fundonny...I'm with you on the squirrel thing..thats just silly, but with all due respect, I do believe we have a collective responsibility for everyones safety in a community...especially when we are talking abou 5 year olds who really cannot be relied upon to make smart decisions on such important issues.

I am a high school gym teacher and of course by high school kids can bring what they like for lunch because they can be trusted to take responsibility. But is it really too much to ask that you, I and all other parents go to a TINY inconvience to help ensure the safety and welfare of a 5 year old.

It really isn't a big deal. Supermarket shelves are stacked with peanut free snacks. There must be a dozen lunches I make my kids for school that they love that don't include nuts. And yes, they LOVE PBJs at home, but thats at home.

Come on mate...it really isn't worth the rant

I agree with you that it is not that big of a deal to find other things to send but I don’t agree that 5 year old kids can’t manage what they eat. My girlfriend’s younger sister was diagnosed with diabetes at 4 and could manage herself perfectly at 5. Being diabetic takes more time and effort to deal with then teaching your kid not to eat peanut butter. Personally I just think most of the problem is that parents (not all) don’t want to take the time needed as it is much easier to just say don’t send things to school.

[jvincent]

The problem is not with the kids that have the allergies, but the kids that don't. They don't know the impact of the allergy because they don't have to deal with it.

Imagine your typical 5-yr old who doesn't have allergies and eats what they want at home. They won't understand why little Jimmy can't eat PBJ and will offer it to them because it tastes so yummy. Or they'll wipe their hands on them. Or give them a hug. Etc.

What's even worse is there are some adults who don't think it's an issue and won't take the proper steps.

[Mattchew]

Peanut butter is one thing but the stupid things that parents lobby about are hilarious these days, some of the things my sister gets from the school is just insane. No Cheese, milk or chocolate cause if my child eats it he will get bad cramps and I don’t feel like dealing with it later. Teach you child that it is not good to drink milk, eat cheese or chocolate, don’t fight so that every kid has to work around a single child. If it is bad enough to kill or severely harm a child I agree to keep it away but let’s be reasonable.

[jvincent]

Yes, I agree that some parents are taking too far. Cramps, etc. are just silly and what is even worse is it downplays the seriousness of the deadly allergies.