Yorkieabroad

I used to take cucumber sandwiches

Mine take either a "bento box" of leftovers from the previous night, supplemented with fruit, and a yogurt, or a sandwich/rollup, or some form of quick-to-put-together pasta/noodles.

SultanOfSwing

My daughter is in a daycare that provides food, which is nice.

My son walks his arse home from school and prepares his own bloody lunch, just as it should be

Yorkieabroad

How long does he get? My Elementary kids get 30 minutes for lunch...the ones in Junior High get 20 minutes!

SultanOfSwing

At least half an hour, maybe 40 minutes, I can't remember off hand. We only live ten minutes away from the school though. When he brings lunch in, he still makes his own though, just before he leaves.

Yorkieabroad

40 minutes isn't bad. I seem to remember we got at least an hour in secondary (plus morning and afternoon recess). Can't believe the hours the JH kids do here....7.20-2.35, with no recess, and only 20 minutes for lunch. If that was kids in a shoe factory in the Far East there'd be some charity trying to rescue them....

SultanOfSwing

We got 50 minutes in secondary school, with a 15 minute break in the morning.

Can't remember his middle school hours, think it was something like 8:00 until 3:15 or so. A bit more civilised than yours are ...

Uncle_Bob

Exactly. It used to be that as a parent you could choose exactly what you child ate as part of a balanced diet. Including the choice of a school cafeteria meal.

Now the cafeterias seem to be a thing of the past we are limited to either school pizza or packed lunch. Because of the heat here lunch choices are limited. Peanut butter is ideal.

Why are allergies all of sudden a problem now? Because people have gotten lazy. Simple as that. Parents, rather than take responsibility for their own child, would rather kick up a fuss and make everyone else bend over backwards to deal with their problem. I bet these same parents are perfectly happy taking their kids to Disneyland and other places where peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are almost guaranteed to be on a kids menu.

If your kids life is threatened then why send them to a public school and rely on 100s of parents checking to see if their kids snack or lunch has had no peanut contact at the factory etc, its stupid.

If i was unfortunate enough to have child with such high risk allergies I would have to arrange for homeschooling or something.

kodokan

Our schools aren't nut-free, much to my surprise; I was expecting at least the elementary to insist on it, as younger kids aren't nearly as good about self-policing what they can share from their friends' lunches, and have dubious personal hygiene.

I would find it tedious if they were - neither of my kids like eggs, cheese or ham/ other processed meats, and the heat's a concern, so it would be a chore to keep thinking of novelty protein items that aren't nut-based. But I would comply if I had to, whilst grumbling intermittently about it.

I don't quite understand how these severely-allergic kids manage out in the world outside of the school campus, though, if they're having their allergies triggered by nut residue in a door handle, or from simply floating through the air. Do they just simply never got to the cinema, restaurants, supermarkets, any public places that might have involved a speck of food being consumed in the last 24 hours?

scrubbedexpat099

That makes a lot more sense. I did a spell looking after Grandchildren at a young age, school runs etc. I fed them and their friends hopefully a balanced diet but was perhaps fortunate to be out of the school paper loop.

Makes you wonder how they manage school trips and avoid peanuts.

Pulaski

What you would do is irrelevant. Parents have a right to send their children to the public school for education. The schools have a duty to provide a safe environment for those children, which occasionally might inconvenience a few of the other children. There are hundreds of possible sandwich fillings you could use, so you need to come to terms with the fact that putting peanut butter in your children's sandwiches might endanger the life of one of their classmates.
The teachers carry an epi-pen around with them.

Pulaski

Most are much less sensitive than that, needing to come into contact with the nut/ nut product, not merely get a residue transferred via a door knob or "in the air". It is perfectly manageable for most children, but a little consideration from other children and their parents to reduce the risk goes a long way to help.

Uncle_Bob

Absolute rubbish. To answer your question the two main causes of severe allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) are nuts and fish. I have received no letter regarding fish. Although at this rate I'll be expecting one and maybe one about milk, eggs and why not even latex?

Of course my kids can have peanut butter at home but as they are forced into a packed lunch for school and as part of my responsible attitude we like to have a balanced cooked meal for dinner thank-you.

Nutmegger

With your lack of concern about the well being of your children's classmates, it appears you would have no problem sending your children to school in latex gloves with fish sandwiches. The request from the school is such a simple one, and you are making it into an imposition of gigantic proportions. Perhaps you don't care about the possibility of your children witnessing a classmate go into shock.

Uncle_Bob

Its a complete over reaction that in the past was never necessary. Schools are perfectly safe enough. I know there are lots of sandwiches fillings, the letter is asking me to check and make sure that they all don't come from a factory that handles peanuts. Its ridiculous. And its ridiculous that i could be subjected to a civil suit if I accidentally forget to check.

This is the first time i've heard of such a request after having my kids in pre-school, day care, kindergarten and 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade.

My problem is getting my kids used to anything other than peanut butter in sandwiches, something that does not mind getting warm. The school is doing nothing to help us help with their request. Also should the child with the allergy not be identified so that other kids know not to trade food at the lunch table?

scrubbedexpat099

I understand the health risk of eating school pizza's.

I am not understanding the health risks here.