Sunday, April 21, 2013

Peanut Allergy Controversy

 
 
During the semester, we watched this video about a school in Florida that had a huge controversy about a 6-year old student who had a peanut allergy. She was very allergic to peanuts and as a precaution and an attempt to help the child, the school banned peanuts, peanut butter, and required students to wash their hands upon arriving to school, before and after lunch, and even required them to rinse their mouths out after lunch. While these reactions may seem too harsh, I do not think them all too bad. Parents were saying that their child's rights were being taken away and even had their children picketing outside the school with them. In my opinion, this set a bad precedent for the other students and taught their children that being flexible and courteous of others' needs is not important and their own rights are more important. We discussed why parents did not want their children to wash their hands, especially before and after lunch. Teachers could take that time to have students say their multiplication facts, repeat the preamble, say their ABCs; whatever it may be they are studying at the time. I think it was an awful overreaction to these simple requests to help a child attend school in an environment that is safe for her.
 
Below is a link to CNNs video on the issue.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsVViq9rdmo&feature=youtu.be

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