:unsure: Well, I guess there's not really anything else I can do at this point, so I'll try not to spend the weekend worrying about it and get some MATH SUPERSTAR stickers ordered. Lesson learned for sure.:thanks:
I believe -- correct me if I'm wrong -- that gelatin is also an issue for some religious groups. Wikipedia has some information on this.
Wow, this thread has brought to light so many issues I had never considered beyond the fact that candy is unhealthy.
The girl shoudl definitely have known what she can and cannot eat. Plus, I doubt there is much actual strawberry in the starburst.
..and caused it to remain swollen a day later. So apparently she wasn't looking for an excuse to get out of class, it was a bona fide reaction.
Enough to cause a reaction...and in some students who are highly allergic, 'not much' can cause anaphylaxis.
Someone already mentioned earlier in this thread that lots of allergies develop over time. That is, a person who wasn't allergic to something can become allergic to that thing. It can be a very bad reaction totally out of the blue. One of my coworkers had eaten shellfish her whole life. One day she was having oysters and everything in her face/neck started swelling. She was very lucky that she didn't die.
A quick disclaimer: matherine, I just want you to realize that the focus of the discussion has long since passed from you to a more general discussion. I think we as teachers want it both ways. We say that, at age 12, she should be adult enough to know what she can eat. Yet, of course, there are adults on this thread claiming that there isn't anything in a Starbust that would cause a reaction, when the reality appears to be different-- her face was still swollen this afternoon. Yet we expect a 12 year old to know. We also expect her to be mature enough to turn down candy, on the chance that it will do her harm. Yet we assume her classmates are immature enough to behave if we offer them candy as a reward.
Exactly. I have one boy who has a nut allergy, and we aren't allowed to give our kids anything in the classroom so that's never an issue, but he is very diligent in reminding me. If we are supposed to have brownies with lunch, he reminds the cafeteria workers that he is allergic and needs one without nuts if at all possible. I have to rearrange the seating at lunch if we do have the brownies with nuts so he isn't sitting next to anyone that has them either.
I had a student once who would break out in hives if she used supplies or equipment used by someone who had just eaten peanut products (a jump rope handle brought on a reaction!)
My son has peanut/tree nut allergies this bad. When he was little his sister ate something with peanuts and then touched him causing a reaction. He is now in college and will be flying home for the first time. I am very nervous but he knows what to do and his sister will be with him. I also have nut allergies that just surfaced 4 yrs ago. I still have not learned totally how intense my allergies are. Because of my allergies I was given a student that has really bad nut allergies. We use wipes to wash our hands after snack and lunch, if we eat in the classroom she has her own area or is sent to another area.
Thankfully my student's allergy isn't THAT severe. It is pretty bad, but he can be around nuts. His mother said it's not even an issue for him to breathe it in or touch it, but he absolutely cannot ingest any nut for any reason.
