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Courtesy of University of Minnesota |
Recently,
I helped a friend draft a letter to her child's elementary school principal
about food restrictions relating to the "peanut responsible" classroom
to which her child had been assigned. In short, my friend believed, among other things, it was
unfair that her child, if he brought a snack containing nuts to school, would
have to sit in the hall during snack time.
I agreed.
Of
course, I have compassion for the children and the families of the children who
suffer from severe allergies. The son of a very close friend/fraternity brother has
a peanut allergy and it’s a colossal burden for my friend and his wife. I’ve
seen the lengths they’ve gone to insure their son doesn’t eat foods that he isn’t
certain are peanut free. But, they have taken personal responsibility for their
child, as I believe should we for ours.
Feel
free to use this slightly edited version of the letter should you find
yourself and your child, contrary to your wishes, in a peanut responsible/free classroom. Adapt it to your own needs and circumstances.
Dear
School Principal:
While
I am empathetic to the plight of children afflicted with peanut and other food allergies, I am
concerned about my children participating in a “peanut responsible/free” class
for a number of reasons.
First,
part of my children’s responsibilities is making the lunches for school. This
is not only a learning opportunity for my children, but it is also a time saver
for me, a single father. Considering all of my other parenting responsibilities
and knowing my children are well able to handle making lunches, I will almost
certainly not be able to check my children’s lunches each day for nuts before they
get on the bus.
Second,
nut based snacks are extremely healthy, and contain protein and minerals not
commonly found in other foods. Granola bars and other snacks containing nuts
are a healthy part of my family’s diet and I’m not willing to eliminate those
snacks from my children’s lunches.
Finally,
granola bars and other snacks that do not contain nuts are often significantly more
expensive. Even if those other snacks did provide the nutritional benefits that
peanuts and other nuts do, the additional cost for those snacks would place an
unnecessary and unacceptable burden on my family’s budget.
Please
note, it is not acceptable for my child to sit in the hallway, segregated from
the rest of the class, during snack time. I believe that snack time, like
(hopefully) every other minute of the school day, is an opportunity for
learning. No child should be subject to that ostracism.
Concluding,
I want to reiterate my empathy for children and the families of children who
have food allergies. Still, the responsibility for managing those allergies is,
frankly, that of the family of the child who has the allergies. It is unfair to
burden the other 23 families in the class. As such, please either move my out
of the peanut free class or move the child who has the allergy. Thank you.
Sincerely,
A
Concerned Single Dad
For more information about the peanut responsible/free classroom issue, check out this great blog post from the Ridgewood-GlenRock Patch Blog, "Glen Rock Parents Nuts Over Proposed Peanut Ban" and the Huff Parents Blog, "Food Allergies: Doctors Disagree on Peanut-Free Schools/Classrooms Plus Talk on Bullying."