Reply To: Peanut Ban in Schools 🚫🥜🏫💉

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Shmiras Haloshon
Participant

Syag Lchochma,

I prefer my daughter not eat alone and it’s unrelated to being inconvenienced. On the contrary, I’ve always preferred that I be the one who’s inconvenienced rather than other parents and children. The fact is that kids like mine will often stand out. She frequently has to step out of parties, weddings, class events, etc. because a peanut dish is served. She never complains about it, but I know she does not enjoy the attention. Her friends are very dedicated to her and she’s never alone outside, but she really just wants to be like everyone else. School is one place where she should be safe and allowed to be just a regular kid if it’s possible. Eating alone, even with a couple of friends, smacks a label on her that says “different.” Which she obviously is, but she would like to be able to forget that sometimes.

Also, after what we’ve experienced, I would not feel safe with hundreds of girls eating peanut butter in the lunchroom and then going out to play in the same place as my daughter. Even if they’re told to wash their hands, 100% compliance is not guaranteed, and sometimes clothing can also pick up traces of peanut butter.

I feel like I sound like I expect everyone to bend over backwards for my child, and believe me, that could not be further from the truth. I want to attract as little attention as possible to her allergies and just have her life run seamlessly, but I sometimes have to do things I don’t like to in order to keep her safe.