\But We Can\'t Control The Environment We\'re Going Into\

pI was trying to think if I should post this under Living with PA or Schools. So, I went through my head about each time I have heard this phrase and it has ALWAYS been from someone at the school./p
pFirst of all, I am the only one who understands that you cannot control the environment outside of your front door? For example, your child may run out of the house to play one day and run smack dab into another kid with pb on his hands. Right? All of us know that, don't we?/p
pJesse was signed up for a computer course in JK and because it was not going to be in the school (although now, thinking about it, since he doesn't have a "peanut free" school and he would have had to have had the computer class elsewhere in the school, what difference did that make?), the vice principal called me the night before this poor wee guy (before we had this new computer) was to start class to say that she strongly urged that I choose something else./p
pIt was implicit in her wording, that if I still wanted Jesse to go on this course, I would be asked to sign a waiver absolving the school of any liability. I pondered it and realized that I could not do that. I could not take on that type of responsibility. So, I chose another course for Jesse./p
pBut when she called me, she said that the school was unable to control the environment Jesse was going into and that's why she didnt think it was a good idea. I am fairly clear this was the first time I had heard that wording./p
pLast June, when there was the big rucus about the Fun Fair, the principal and organizer were having a discussion about this and how they can't control the environment and how does this family go to Canada's Paramount Wonderland, etc. and went so far as to suggest that we simply stay home. Now, this controlling the environment stuff, in this case, is actually not true. My son has the right to attend after school functions in a relatively safe environment, so that means the school has to kinda control that environment to some degree./p
pLast Thursday, and I did post this in my school rant thing posted in various threads throughout the board, I had to speak with one of the other Kindergarten teachers about the children in the other two non-peanut-free classrooms who are going on the Field Trip with us and if they ate a lot of pb sandwiches. I had wanted to request that all three classes be "peanut free" that day.br /
I have decided that the least I can do is provide wipes for the two other classes, as it was clear there would be no "peanut free" for a day (what a horrible thing to have to endure)./p
pIn this discussion, the gentleman said to me, "But we can't control the environment we're going into". This means that they have no control over whether or not someone else has had a pb sandwich 5 minutes before at the zoo and smeared pb on something that Jesse MAY touch./p
pDo you know what? I think this is because I was discussing a field trip in particular but my head wanted to explode (I know I let too many little things bother me). I said, "Yes, I understand, as I also understand that you are not able to control the environment of the playground that my son plays in at school"./p
pMy whole point of this is do I have idiot stamped on my head? Do people really think we live in bubbles (well, I live in Stayner so I do live in a bubble [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/rolleyes.gif[/img] )? And, most of all, has ANYONE ELSE OUT THERE heard this ludicrous statement?/p
pI know that yes, I am simply being told what is a fact. But is it a fact that I need to be told in the first place? Would it not only be a sheer idiot who thought that their child could walk around freely outside of their own home without having any fear of some type of contact?/p
pPart of my article for Canadian Parents Online last year dealt with this very thing.br /
We have gone to the playground and I had forgotten the Epi-pen. So, knowing that we cannot control the environment and that yes, a kid with pb on his hands may very well have just gone down the slide, we made a plan about getting the Epi-pen. Pretty simple.br /
So, it's not something I need to be reminded of./p
pI don't know why I'm finding this particularly aggravating or why I even ended up posting about it. It's just that whenever anyone says that to me (and perhaps this has to do with me and not PA at all), I feel like a complete idiot./p
pOne of the parts of the field trip is to a provincial park. Fine. Does the school or teacher or vice principal really think that I may have wanted the whole area of the provincial park searched for peanut shells or cleaned everywhere for traces of peanut residue? /p
pAgain, I am just beginning to find that this particular phrase irritates me./p
pI'm wondering if anyone else has heard it and if you feel the same way I do or if you're just able to let it slide./p
pMany thanks and best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]/p
p------------------/p