Peanut Allergies, post script

I don’t want my August 31 post to get added to the “evidence” that people use to support an urban myth. Urban myths are fun and all, but I really don’t like misinformation spoken as fact.

Ironically, a few days before I made that post about the child with a peanut allergy in my son’s preschool class, I was contemplating a post about the peanut ban in schools myth. With the beginning of a new school year, people tend to talk about school—things they remember, things that are always the same, and things that have changed. Something I’ve heard as fact for a few years now, is that schools have banned peanuts to protect those students with peanut allergies.

Until this one class with my youngest son, I’ve never actually heard of a real instance of any kind of peanut allergy. I’ve heard the urban stories, but ironically, these stories are told by people with no kids or with no kids in school. A week or so ago, I heard this concept mentioned twice in a few days. One person, with no children, brought up the “fact” of how schools have changed and now peanuts are banned in many schools. The other person, with a child about to enter kindergarten at the same school my son is in first grade, asked whether there was a problem with sending peanuts to school in a child’s lunch.

I told both people that my son takes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to school every day (literally), and has for all five years he’s been in a school environment. I’ve never seen a rule against peanuts in any school information I’ve read. So, as far as I can tell, the whole peanut ban story is a myth.

My first son has been in some form of school for five years. From pre-school for just two days a week, to first grade five days a week, he’s been in two different schools. I’ve seen the rules for other schools and districts. I’ve also talked with parents with kids in other schools and districts.

Now, I could do some research on the subject, and tell you exactly what the percentage of children with this allergy is. I could also research many school districts and see if there actually are any schools that ban peanuts. But this is a blog, not an article—I’m doing this writing as a hobby, not as my job. So I’m just telling you what I’ve seen with my older child in school.

What I feared may happen with my anecdote about a peanut ban in a single small class in a private preschool, is that people will take the story and retell it as evidence that the peanut ban story in all or many schools is truth. I hope this post sets the record straight: one or two anecdotes, even truthful ones, does not support a broad concept. As a parent with a child in a “peanut banned” class, I do not believe peanuts are banned in many schools. (Note: this peanut ban is only for one class, not for the whole school.)

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com