Talking Allergies

All school staff are aware of the situation and have been instructed in procedures necessary in the event of an anaphylactic reaction.

I see the letter as unclear and I would expect parents who are uninformed about this issue to be confused, or un-motivated by it. A simple rule of business writing is to be clear. Know what your objective is, and write accordingly. Here’s what I tell my students: State precise responsibilities. If you don’t, people will not comply with your requests. In reading this letter, the objective is unclear. If you want people not to bring an allergen into the classroom, you need to specifically say that. The discourage/encourage language troubles me. People see those words and they think: Optional. A question I would have for the school is this: What is your objective in this situation? What are the guiding principles that are informing the choices you are making? What is the school's mission statement? What is the school's mission statement as it pertains to children with disabilities? What do you hope to achieve?

I would also note that asking people not to bring peanuts to the classroom in no way guarantees that the classroom is a peanut free environment. It's a request. There's a no weapons policy, too. If a child brings a legal weapon to school, such as a pocket knife, parents do not have the grounds to sue the school for failing to guarantee a weapon-free environment.

Bottom line--if you don't ask for what you want, you're not going to get it.

As for the so-called "rights" of children to eat what they want . . . Is a child who wishes to drink pop every day for lunch permitted to do so? What about coffee? If a child brings coffee to school, is that allowed?

At Halloween last year, my daughter's teacher told the children they were not allowed to bring candy to school a day or two after Halloween. The children complied, even though this infringed on their "right" to eat candy. Why was this allowed?

What about bringing toy weapons to school? Many children enjoy playing with these items, and they pose no threat. Why can the school set a policy against those, but not a real danger?

Why are girls not permitted to wear tank tops? This infringes on their "right" to dress for warm weather. There's nothing wrong or harmful with showing a shoulder— Canada is not Saudi Arabia —but the school is comfortable setting a policy against that.

There's a troubling lack of consistency in the school's policies. Why is the right to eat peanuts protected when the right to drink pop, eat candy, play with toy weapons, and wear tank tops not? What is special about this "right"? That is wholly unclear to me.

I’m sure you’ve thought of all of these things before, but I think the trick to winning this battle is to get them to name the mission or principle they are guided by—all organizations are guided by these. And then hang them with it. They are dead wrong.

You are fighting the good fight! Keep at it!

Also, if you are sending in treats for the class to share, please remember that they need to be _____ free so that this student can be a part of all classroom activities.
If you have questions about what foods are safe for him, don’t hesitate to contact his parents,(name), at (phone number).

To help us with safety in the classroom/lunchroom for the student with anaphylaxis, wherever possible, please refrain from sending ______products to school.

We hope to develop an “allergen-aware” classrooms

This child has a severe life-threatening allergy (anaphylaxis) to _____________. If he eats or touches _____, he may have an anaphylactic reaction, which can include swelling, difficulty breathing, abdominal cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, circulatory collapse, coma and even death. Even tiny amounts of the allergen can lead to a very serious reaction.

To avoid a medical emergency, we are asking for your cooperation. We hope to develop an “allergen-aware” classrooms that will lessen the chance of an exposure to ______. Note that the following precautions will be taken when there is food in the classroom/lunchroom:
- Children will not share food, knives, forks, spoons, cups or straws.
- Students will wash hands before and after eating.
- The classroom will have safe eating areas.
- Children will be asked to inform the teacher if they have brought anything to school that might contain ______

Please encourage your child to support our efforts to make classrooms as safe as possible for the student with life-threatening allergies. Our school nurse will speak to his classmates about his allergy so that they are aware of the seriousness of the allergy as well. Also, if you are sending in treats for the class to share, please remember that they need to be _____ free so that this student can be a part of all classroom activities. If you have questions about what foods are safe for him, don’t hesitate to contact his parents,(name), at (phone number).

Children with allergies get left out when food treats are brought in to share with the class. We would like all children to feel included during class as much as possible. We would also like to promote healthy food choices. If you would like to send in a treat for your child to share please send in stickers, pencils, activity pages and other non-food items.

If you have questions about what foods are safe for him, don’t hesitate to contact his parents,(name), at (phone number).

Although all school staff are aware of the situation and have been instructed in procedures necessary in the event of an anaphylactic reaction, our goal is to avoid such a traumatic emergency situation helping this child avoid ____.

Children will be asked to inform the teacher if they have brought anything to school that might contain ______
To help us with safety in the classroom/lunchroom for the student with anaphylaxis, wherever possible, please refrain from sending ______products to school. (Someone help me with this sentence!!)

I'd like to weigh in the following:



I'd prefer to leave the first sentence out and leave "wherever possible" out to strengthen the sentence. What I've found in my child's school is that kids come with foods they've been asked to refrain from bringing and say "oh well, I'd better go eat in the hall". Some children simply begin to make a habit of it and the parents who send that allergenic food think it's okay because the child is going to let the teacher know anyway. It gives an "out" before you even get started.

Also, at my child's school, I wrote the letter home to parents, explaining what the problem is, what we've done to educate our child about how to handle her allergy and how we need their help to keep our child safe. I then include food suggestions and what to look for on labels. This gives some alternatives and could be sent home in conjunction with the school board notice. If you do this, you're not changing the "official" notice but giving parents some tools and a more personal touch which gives them more incentive to comply with your requests. No guarantees of course, but we've found it's been quite positive.

As a former teacher, I know that school boards are very careful about covering themselves and getting legal council before letters like this go out. However, too much care in wording results in wording that means nothing at all.