Food Allergy Faux Pas

Is this how our school nurses and administrators feel?

I feel for public school administrators and teachers. There are so many medical problems to deal with in today's student population, and in addition to that, other special needs and disabilities that school administrators and teachers need to be aware of, how can they really do it all? Well, they can't. Nobody can, it's overwhelming! It's an impossible job, but they have to try.

The slush event at our school--described in my previous post--is tomorrow. To my knowledge, the required information about a food being served to students was never sent home to families. We certainly never received a copy and I have two children in two different classrooms. So, if you are a mom or dad or other caregiver keenly concerned about what your child eats--for whatever the reason--and you don't know about the unannounced slush being served at tomorrow's event, you're out of luck. That's really wrong, I think. I am not sure why the school puts itself in this position. I know they care about the children. I know they do not want anything to happen to any of the children. Yet, they aren't too concerned about what they're feeding them. Isn't anyone at the very minimum concerned about liability? Shouldn't someone be concerned somehow? As a parent of a food allergic child, I know I am.

The children of today do not have the same health situation we had 30 years ago. It is a different world. Increasing numbers of children presenting with food allergies, diabetes and other medical problems involving restricted diets and potentially life threatening situations should be enough to convince schools to take the food out of classroom and school celebrations. Otherwise, notices informing parents about food being served and the ingredients/nutritional information should be sent home days before the events involving food, every single time! We can do this!