Talking Allergies

While I understand that the recognition of food allergies in young children might well prevent massive outbreaks of discomfort, vomiting, and death, it’s a real annoyance to those professionals who have to memorize the particular needs of each child.

I have a deep suspicion that one reason that we are becoming obsessed, as a nation, with the thought that there are, hidden in the most benign substances, things that can hurt us, because we have realized that, indeed, many things that seem benign could, in fact, be dangerous.

Controlling what we put on our plate, or on the plates of the kids in our charge, gives us a sense that we’re in control of the universe. It helps keep at bay the fear that so much of the world is, in fact, unpredictable and scary.

I’d also like to remind us that kids eat bugs

Thanks for the providing the link, and sorry that you found the article
insensitive. I've reconsidered my lighthearted tretament of this
serious subject and removed what I hope is the offending paragraph from the
column. Thank you for taking the time to write.

I appreciate your prompt reply.
"While I understand that the recognition of food allergies in young children might well prevent massive outbreaks of discomfort, vomiting, and death, it’s a real annoyance to those professionals who have to memorize the particular needs of each child.
Not only are there kids who can’t eat peanuts or who have to avoid shellfish (not that lobster and shrimp etouffee often appear in the goody bags one brings to celebrate a 7-year-old’s birthday), there are also vegan first graders and tikes who must avoid gluten, lactose, or anything made with actual material substances. My friend Laurie, who teaches second grade in Massachusetts, told me that “It’s getting to the point where I’m simply going to shred green construction paper and give that to the kids to eat. Paper is the only thing that’s not on the ‘unacceptable foods’ list.” "
Actually, I find the entire reference offending. I find the fact that keeping a child safe is annoying to you. I find the fact that teachers feel the need to offer food at all to children unfathomable. My daughter was offered foods 4x in JK and she accepted them because the teacher who was the authority figure offered them to her and she wanted to please her teacher-even though she knew she could die. I wish you could have been in the room when my daughter "confessed" her crime of eating the foods to me. It breaks my heart every time she is singled out as being different, every time she must say "no thank you" and every time she cries into her dolly because she hates the unfairness of it all. 5 year old"s weigh everything against fairness.
You may comment all you wish on the fact that adults force children to eat a healthy diet while we consume unhealthy stuffs but please, please don't poke fun at any ones disability. You only come off as being mean and petty.
I'm sure you are actually a very nice person, I can guess that by your prompt reply and your attempt to alter your article.