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Features
Dec/Jan 2013 Issue
Table of Contents
- How to protect your child from harassment.
- Risks of Bullying
- Know Your Rights
- Warning Signs
- Take Action
- Providing Comfort
- Positive Signs
Food Allergy Bullying
How to protect your child from harassment.
Photo © BananaStock/ThinkstockFor little Thomas, second grade should have been the year of learning about dinosaurs, outer space and multiplication. Instead, second grade quickly turned into a year of horrors. Two boys bullied the happy, blonde boy who loves baseball, swimming and football—repeatedly kicking him, punching him and calling him names. The teacher was on medical leave for the entire year, so a series of long-term subs came in and out of his Virginia classroom.
A few months into the year, any sense of classroom control was long gone, as was any adherence to Thomas’ Individualized Healthcare Plan (IHP) set up because of his multiple food allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, sesame, wheat and milk. His mother, Eleanor Garrow, vice president of education and outreach at the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN), asked for her son to be transferred to another class but she was consistently denied. The bullying got worse.
“They would hit him and call him names,” Garrow says. “They also bullied him because of his food allergies, where they chased him on the playground with pebble rocks and said they were peanuts and were going to smear them all over his face. They took his medicine bag from him, because he carries his own epinephrine auto-injector and has since kindergarten. They took his lunch bag from him, even though that’s the only food he can eat.”
In March, an intolerable situation turned even more dangerous. One of the bullies took peanut butter and smeared it on Thomas’ neck in the lunchroom, thinking it was funny. Knowing that one bite of peanut butter could kill him, Thomas sprang into action.
Garrow recalls: “He said, ‘Mommy, Mommy, I’m so proud of myself. I ran to the bathroom and washed my neck off with soap and water with a paper towel, so I didn’t actually touch it. Then I washed my hands with soap and water, so I didn’t have anything on my hands.’
“I said, ‘Honey, I’m so proud of you, but you should never have had to do that,’” Garrow says. “Why did my son go to the bathroom alone? Why wasn’t he monitored? What if something had happened to him, where he accidentally swiped his lips, ingested some peanut butter and then developed anaphylaxis?”
Comments (4)
I feel for this kid. I am allergic to tree nuts and peanuts, and faced similar (although less serious) teasing when I was in grade school. The father of one of my friends commented `She's the one who could die if she ate a peanut butter sandwich'. (Yes, this is true. Fortunately I had enough sense never to attempt to eat a peanut butter sandwich!) Things are much better now than forty years ago when I was in school -- now schools appear to have a nut-free policy.
Posted by: clare | December 7, 2012 6:51 PM Report this comment
I feel this lady's pain. My now 14 year old daughter was diagnosed as a Type 1 diabetic when she was 10 and just starting fifth grade. She went from a straight A student to a shivering wreck of a child who technically failed fifth grade because of the bullying she received all year from her TEACHERS! I went to the school administration twice, had nuclear meltdowns in the hallways more times than I can count and finally consulted two lawyers and wrote a letter to the school superintendent outlining the federal court case her school district was facing. The school principal and I finally sat down and worked out how sixth grade was going to go, but my daughter still struggles with the results of adults not caring for her welfare and safety and she is in high school now. She was also diagnosed as celiac sprue when she was twelve so she has a double whammy to deal with. I have to be very direct and uncompromising with every school administration every year about my daughter's medical care plan and her 504 plan. I will never forgive the two women who abused my daughter's trust and health and I don't allow any school official any leeway at this point. It's an awful feeling to have to literally fight for everything that my daughter has a right to because of the ignorance and incompetence in our schools.
Posted by: JDTilton | November 20, 2012 8:35 PM Report this comment
You can't count on Public Schools to take care of your child or his special needs. I would have pulled him out of that school so fast their heads would spin. Private school or home school are your only hope to keep him safe.
Posted by: Unknown | November 20, 2012 1:17 PM Report this comment
I can't begin to tell you how upset and then angry I got reading about what happened to this child in school. It is beyond infuriating to hear and see examples of how supposed carefully planned and good intentioned school districts either look the other way or assume its not as bad as it actually is when we as parents--and health professionals--know otherwise. I am very happy to hear that your son is doing well in his new school.
Posted by: ROBERTA T | November 20, 2012 1:04 PM Report this comment