Some of the parents of children who attend a public elementary school in Florida are asking that a child in that school be removed from the school entirely, and home schooled instead. The first grader in question has a peanut allergy that is severe enough to be classified as a disability. The parents of some of this child’s peers are resistant to having their own children make changes that would serve to protect her health. It seems that the situation has gotten completely out of hand.
The Edgewater Elementary School, a public school located in Florida, has a controversy going on. There is a child who attends first grade in that school, who happens to have a severe allergy to peanuts.
As a person who has some severe allergies myself, I can understand what it must be like for this child to have to go to a school five days a week knowing that there may be a chance that she will encounter the allergen that could, in fact, kill her. In my opinion, the child is extremely brave to even want to be attending public school, (assuming that she is old enough to really understand the potential consequences). Her parents, undoubtedly, are well aware of the risk their child takes every time she leaves her home.
Naturally, her parents want to have their child’s health protected. The child’s allergies are severe enough to be considered a disability. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires public schools to accommodate for the special needs of students who have a disability. As a result, the school has instituted some safety rules.
All of the children in this child’s classroom must wash their hands before they enter the classroom, both at the start of the school day, and after lunch. They must also rinse out their mouths. The school had a peanut- sniffing service dog check the school last week, while the students were away on spring break. The school could, potentially, have decided to ban peanuts entirely, but, for whatever reason, they did not take that measure.
Since creating these safety rules, many of the parents of the other students in this first grade class have very clearly, and very loudly, stated their displeasure about these rules. They don’t want their child to have to do anything different just to accommodate for the student who has a disability. I am of the impression that they feel these rules are unfair for their child to adhere to, or that they are an imposition of some kind. Some parents are actually protesting the rules.
Many parents are pressuring the school to remove the first grader who has a peanut allergy, and force her to be homeschooled instead. Some of the parents have said that they feel that if this child’s allergies are that severe, then she has no business attending a public school, because of the potential dangers. The school cannot do this, however, because to do so would be blatantly illegal.
According to Reuters, a man named Chris Burr, (who has two children who attend this school), stated “If I had a daughter who had a problem, I would not ask everyone else to change their lives to fit my life”. Personally, I cannot understand how someone could conclude that requiring children to wash their hands is equal to asking them to “change their lives”.
Image by Martin L. on Flickr