Children with food allergies are bullied...

[IDrinkaRum]

not only by other kids in their class, but by their own. teachers. too!

WTH?

Teachers are making fun of, teasing, downright bullying chilren with food allergies?

WTF is wrong with the school system?

The article noted that teens do not want to bring along their epi pens because they're afraid of being teased? What? It's better to die rather than carry a life-saving device because the others don't care/understand what you're going through?

My sister's daughter is allergic to peanut butter. Now I'm having nightmares about her being hurt because of stupid kids/teachers.

[HYHYBT]

Inexcusable.

[smileyeagle1021]

why does this surprise people?
For the longest time it has been 'acceptable' to bully people for other born traits (skin color, gender, orientation), it was only a matter of time before society started in on allergies.

[telecom_goddess]

God damn I just hate humanity sometimes. Is this is the US only or is it happening in other countries as well?

[fireheart17]

I haven't heard anything about it over here in Ausland. In most cases, unless they were food allergies, the teacher would simply keep a list of students who had various allergies and keep it out of our sight. Food allergies were a bit harder to hide.

[Greenday]

This is new. I've never seen anyone get picked on for food allergies.

[AdminAssistant]

This is new. I've never seen anyone get picked on for food allergies.

Me either.

Bullying of all kinds is reprehensible, however, schools themselves sometimes single out those with food allergies. I know some kids who aren't even allowed to bring peanut butter sandwiches in their school lunches because one kid in a different grade is allergic to peanuts. And that's ridiculous.

[Eisa]

^See, I don't agree that that's necessarily ridiculous. It depends on how severe that kid's allergy is. Some people are so allergic to peanuts that airborne particles can trigger an allergic reaction. Now if that's not the case, it's going a little overboard and should make sure of the severity of anyone's allergy. But allergies can also change, and I imagine the school would rather be safe than sorry. [Peanuts, by the way, are not the only allergy that affects people sometimes through airborne particles, but I can't recall any others offhand.]

I never saw anyone being bullied who had a food allergy, but it doesn't surprise me. I got bullied for my disabilities...and while an allergy isn't a physical 'disability' per se, it certainly limits you on what you can have, be around, and deal with.

I was also just thinking...if a kid had a really severe peanut allergy and someone dangled a peanut butter sandwich in front of them...if that child went into anaphylactic shock, could that other child be arrested for attempted murder or something?

[crazylegs]

But allergies can also change,

Indeed they can. You will NEVER have an anyphalactic reaction the first time you are exposed to the allergen, it takes time for the body to react and build up the histamine (over)response to the perceived threat.

However if a child is required to carry an epi pen then any exposure can lead to anaphylaxis as they are already at this stage.

Extreme allergic reactions escalate and it takes repeated exposure to get to this level.

[Eisa]

Indeed they can. You will NEVER have an anyphalactic reaction the first time you are exposed to the allergen, it takes time for the body to react and build up the histamine (over)response to the perceived threat.

However if a child is required to carry an epi pen then any exposure can lead to anaphylaxis as they are already at this stage.

Extreme allergic reactions escalate and it takes repeated exposure to get to this level.

Hmm...wait, I thought you could have an anaphylactic reaction the first time you were exposed to an allergen if it was something like bee stings. Or are you just talking about food allergens?

I would imagine, yeah. No child should ever be teased so much that they feel it's better to not carry around the epi pen that can save their life!

I actually know someone who has an allergy to peanuts. As of yet, he doesn't have to just breathe it and get a reaction, he does have to actually ingest some, but he has an epi pen. Anyway, he was at a restaurant and he got a sundae with M&Ms. They put a Reese's Piece in there. He could tell immediately and spit it out, so if he actually swallowed any, it was very minimal. But they'd left the epi pen at home, so his dad had to rush him out--and not even take the time to pay the bill, he had to come back later--RUSH him home and actually gave him a dose of Benadryl. So all he did was throw up a lot. But he COULD have had a lot worse reaction, and that was just from having a Reese's Piece in his mouth for a few seconds. Allergies are not to be messed with.

[crazylegs]

Hmm...wait, I thought you could have an anaphylactic reaction the first time you were exposed to an allergen if it was something like bee stings. Or are you just talking about food allergens?

Nope, you cannot have anaphylactic reactions from the first exposure for any reason.

If you are anaphylactic then you've been exposed to it before.

Anaphylaxis is a massive release of histamine, what it does is expand (dilate) your blood vessels. Because of the huge amounts released the blood vessels in your body begin to leak, they don't leak blood but they do begin to leak liquid into the surrounding tissue - this is what causes the difficult in breathing (because of the swelling in the trachea/bronchial tissue) and the swelling that you see in the face, neck and tongue.

The body only does this after it has learned that an allergen is a 'threat'. The allergen can be any foreign particle. What happens is that the particle enters the body (through whatever route) and the immune system believes that the body is under attack. To fight the intruder histamine is released to stimulate the immune system (anyone ever had stuffiness during a cold? That's the histamine ladies and gents) and the body learns that the particle is a threat.

The particle/allergen is experienced again and the body thinks it's under attack again so the immune system releases histamine again however because the immune system has developed specific antibodies to the allergen (and in large quantities) more histamine is released.

What keeps happening is that each time the allergen is encountered more anitbodies are made and therefore each time more histamine is released.

[HYHYBT]

Should be added that you *can* have an anaphylactic reaction when you've never had any sort of reaction at all before... and if you didn't react the previous time(s) then you might not even realize they happened.