This is no joke, these allergies exist, they are real and can seriously harm or even kill children.  I do believe the school is just trying to do the right and healthy thing for these kids......and they are also trying to avoid future lawsuits......however, segregation of any kind makes me very uneasy.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have an alternative to this suggestion.  I'm not an educator nor do I work with children.  I just hear 'segregation' and I worry for the kids....all of them.  What's next?  Special schools for these children?  We segregate the kids who don't want to say the pledge of allegiance versus the kids who do?  You know the history of this stuff.

One mother at the Parents Association Meeting last night offered that the officials look to the FAAN the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network website (it's a .org by the way) for some suggestions on how to contructively solve this situation.  I'm sure we're not the first school nor organization that has had to face this issue.

The district is also considering strict dietary guidelines for ALL the children.  They are contemplating forbidding peanut butter on school grounds because of the few children who are allergic.  Lily would have starved during her first two years of school as all she ate for lunch between the ages of 2 to 5 was PB & Jellies.  Does that also mean no more sandwiches for lunch unless they're on Spelt bread because of the (5 out of 801) kids who are allergic to wheat?  How are they going to monitor this?  And in this economy many of us can no longer afford fancy, Spelt, organic food.  And no more macaroni necklaces in Kindergarten.  You see, this is how this stuff gets out of control.  I don't know about you, but I don't like any 'government' agency telling me what I can and can not eat.

Maybe special schools for these children is the answer??  I don't know.  Even the older children can't predict when someone is going to break out a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.  I have a friend whose 9 year old son is allergic to any and all tree nut products.  Their entire family is very vigilant about his diet.  He has to wear a medic alert necklace and carry an EpiPen but that doesn't help him from feeling faint when someone eats cake made with processed tree nut oils next to him. 

Can we really trust all the parents to safely monitor the ingredients of all the foods they send their kids to school with?  Honestly.  Not to be insensitive, but who has the time for that?  I do my best to keep dairy out of Lily's diet because of her asthma but it's a struggle.     

I heard strong arguments in favor of food segregation last night.  What do you think?  Has your school dealt with this issue?