Peanut Allergy Protest a 'Misunderstanding,' Florida School District Says

im with you, all that fuss, all that worry , take the rights away from all for one? bull, if little suzy or johnnie is that much at risk, then let him stay home, i would never and i did not expect special arrangments to be made for my son with learning disabilities, if he was disruptive he was taken out of the class, if he became a major problem he was picked up and removed from the class so other kids could learn in peace, of course this was back in the 80s , before parents expected everyone else to kiss their asses because their kid had a problem,,, sad country we are becoming

Tell me, would you feel as you do if it were your child? I think not. It is so easy to criticize others when you don't have the same problem(s) or issue(s).

@lynn - if you had read the article, you would see that it was A PARENT that said "it's probably taking a good 30 minutes out of the day", not the writer. But you cannot tell me that each child loses 30 minutes each day washing their hands. Please! I wash my hands constantly at work and I can assure I do not lose 30 minutes per day doing it. These parents are jokes. They're certainly not teaching their kids humanity or compassion.

Oh, PLEASE! Peanut-sniffing dog, hand washing, mouth rinsing? This is more than just being accommodating, and accusing others for being insensitive or "anti-cleanliness" because they believe it's way over the top is asinine. If it were just an allergy to peanuts (i.e., "don't let her eat them"), that's a reasonable accommodation, but this girl's allergy is so severe that all students are required to wash before entering the classroom and the school must hire a peanut-sniffing dog to track down any trace of peanuts. That's a bit extreme. But I think everyone is missing the point...the school doesn't want to be sued and who can blame them? That may be the reason for the extreme measures, not the extend of the allergy. God forbid, if that child has one incident, or accident, with a peanut, guess who will be going to court? You got it.

Go wash your hands and face.

Being "asked" to wash your hands and to, maybe for go snack time. Why should a child have to be asked to wash his/her hands? This is something that should come naturally, if this is what you are taught to do. As far as the snack(s), if they stay away from the snack table it wouldn't be so difficult for them to waddle to the sink to wash their hands. I truly hope none of you naysayer EVER have a child(ren) with ANY type of disability. From some of the comments on here you would probably lock them in a closet so you wouldn't have to wash your hands and keep all the snacks for yourself.

Quit playing the victim. Carry your epinephrine with you. There's also a possibility you could run over by a bus everyday, but since you behave responsibly that possibility is next to zero. Allergies are the same. The school is grossly overreacting in an attempt to reduce their liability and not doing this little girl any favors by sheltering her from reality.

PS. What world do you live in that there is peanut butter smeared on nearly every surface? Maybe your allergist can recommend a good therapist.

I am very sorry that you have this allergy BUT I did not cause you to have the allergy. It is not my fault that you are this way and I should not be punished because of it.

Get a latex body suit with rfilter for your mouth.

Wow I can't believe how selfish people are. You don't need to harass others for having allergies. My brother has a peanut allergy and although it isn't so severe that he can't be in a room with peanuts, he could still die if he touched or ate anything with peanuts. And just so you know, more than 12 million Americans have food allergies so it's not like it is some rare disease that no one should have to adapt to. People can't help having an allergy and the insensitivity shown by Chris S. just astounds me. These are children's lives at stake here and he acts like its some psychological problem that people play as a victim card. I really don't think it's that hard to wash your hands- I'm not sure about anyone else but in my grade school, especially in the younger grades, we always stopped to wash our hands at the restrooms before and after lunch if only to stop the spread of germs. And to say the school is "sheltering her from reality"? Try they are keeping her alive! I'm not sure if you know any first-graders, but they typically aren't as aware of their surroundings as adults. You wouldn't let children just run in the streets in traffic just because it's sheltering them since they will cross the street as adults in ten years!

sounds like maybe you would be better off /well you know. if life is so horrible solve the problem,,

Thank you for calling me out by name wow. You may not have been able to glean it from my comment, but just so you know, I have the same anaphylactic response to certain foods that toemouse and your brother do. Toemouse is indeed playing the victim in her comment. "Each minute out in public" has zero chance of "being her last" if she's responsible and carrying her adrenaline. Seeing as how you've never been to an allergist, I understand that you fail to comprehend that the patient bears most of the responsibility for recognizing and treating their own symptoms, and that a mass sterilization of an entire elementary school is highly irregular and unnecessary. To do so is indeed "sheltering her from reality" because hey, guess what, the entire world has not been sterilized of peanuts. Your own metaphor is a little unwieldy for this situation as well because the situations are not equal, a fairer comparison in your metaphor would be that nobody is allowed to drive on the street because a child may want to play in traffic. Sorry bud, but being melodramatic about possibilities and throwing around the disabled label isn't helping anybody. Nor is it "saving" lives.

Oh, get a heart, people! These kids (and there aren't "hundreds" of them at this school---there are two classes) aren't being "punished". They are learning a very important lesson---that if you can do one small thing (such as washing your hands and mouth---whoa, what a punishment!) to help another human being stay healthy and alive, then you're a better person for it. These kids have the opportunity to learn this and grow up to be better adults---unfortunately, their idiotic parents are quickly undoing that lesson and instead teaching their kids to be self centered, unsympathetic and intolerant. I wonder how they would feel if their child could literally die in minutes because some selfish parent thought their "rights" were being infringed? Shame on all of you protestors...may you never have to face what this little girl and her parents face every day. As for the school---they are legally obligated to comply with the law.

Just curious how you would explain infants having a reaction to their mothers breastmilk b/c she ate peanut butter. Perhaps the baby didn't "roll around in dirt" enough. I'm just not buying that peanut allergies come about b/c we are too clean. Explain why I have four children and only one allergic to peanuts, since infanthood?