No Valentine Candy For You!

[WildBill]

Cupid is welcome but candy is not.

That’s the new rule this year at Harwinton Consolidated School in Connecticut, where parents received an email from the principal directing them to make sure candy was not attached to any Valentine’s Day cards.

“We are asking for parents/guardians to be sure that food products of any kind are not a part of your child’s Valentine’s cards,” Principal Megan Mazzei wrote to moms and dads. “We are working to encourage healthy practices as well as manage food choices in classrooms where food allergies are present in order to maintain a safe environment.”

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2014/02/ ... p=trending" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[HKMike]

Who would have thought that Valentine candy created an "unsafe environment." I guess I was lucky to have survived such dangerous conditions in school!

[WildBill]

Who would have thought that Valentine candy created an "unsafe environment." I guess I was lucky to have survived such dangerous conditions in school!

Here's another quote from the article that I liked:

Sefcik said her daughter’s second-grade teacher was a bit more lenient. They won’t be able to eat sugary treats, but kids will be allowed to eat “healthy snacks” like popcorn and fruit.

I’m sure it’ll be one heck of a party – dancing the hokey pokey while gnawing on a fresh celery stalk. I hope nobody spikes the carrot juice.

[Oldgringo]

Are we becoming a nation of fraidy-cat sissies or are we already there? If everything we do and eat and everywhere we go is so hazardous to our health, why are there so many people?

[The Annoyed Man]

Dear school administrator,

What about gun-shaped candy?

Sincerely (or not),

The Annoyed Man

[03Lightningrocks]

Wow... America is truly becoming a nanny state.

[rbwhatever1]

Healthy practices and a safe environment by banning candy from entering a free fire zone.

Might be better to ban public schools...

[WildBill]

Healthy practices and a safe environment by banning candy from entering a free fire zone.

Might be better to ban public schools...

I think that the U.S. Constitution says something about the federal government being responsible for "managing food choices" in public schools, but I can't find the exact reference right now.

[rbwhatever1]

Ha! Give it a little time somebody will link it to the preamble soon enough.

[Oldgringo]

Are we becoming a nation of fraidy-cat sissies or are we already there? If everything we do and eat and everywhere we go is so hazardous to our health, why are there so many people?

When I was that age, I had to walk one mile to Central School in Metropolis, IL. It was uphill....both ways. When it wasn't raining, it was snowing. Once there, we ran with scissors during recess when we weren't playing tackle football in the gravel playground. My mother was there when I got home from school.

Where have the goodle days gone?

[mamabearCali]

This has been a long time coming. When I worked at a private school 7 years ago one year we were able to do little mini birthday parties with cup cakes, and if you were good all week long at the end of the week I let them choose out of a treasure box that held dum dums, jolly ranchers, and starburst. Not a huge amount of candy just a little treat for trying hard. The next (because we started offering subsidized lunch programs) year we were not permitted to do so anymore. I had to have a fight with the lunch lady to let me (an adult) salt my food with my own salt. One of many reasons I could no longer be a teacher and one of many reasons why I will not let me children set toe in a school.

These guys are the no fun crowd.

[MotherBear]

One the one hand, it feels ridiculous to me. On the other hand, I have a good friend whose child has a very severe allergy -- a reaction is life threatening, and there have been ER trips in the past. I can't imagine how scary it would be as a parent to send my kindergartener to school in the knowledge that one small mistake could cost his life. In fact, that was one of many factors in my friend's decision to homeschool.

I'm really not sure how you balance the needs of protecting children with that sort of allergy while also not preventing the other kids from participating in normal kid things. I've always come down more on the side of the latter, but having the experience of being close to someone dealing with that sort of allergy gives me a little more appreciation for that side of things.

[WildBill]

I'm really not sure how you balance the needs of protecting children with that sort of allergy while also not preventing the other kids from participating in normal kid things. I've always come down more on the side of the latter, but having the experience of being close to someone dealing with that sort of allergy gives me a little more appreciation for that side of things.

I haven't had children in school for a while, but we used to sent a note to the school nurse [do they have them anymore?] and they would advise the teachers of the allergies. I remember there was a young diabetic girl in school so they made sure that they had valentine treats especially for her. The same information for children allergic to penicillin and bee stings was given to the nurse. Maybe the HIPPA laws prevent that from happening today.

[WildBill]

Are we becoming a nation of fraidy-cat sissies or are we already there? If everything we do and eat and everywhere we go is so hazardous to our health, why are there so many people?

When I was that age, I had to walk one mile to Central School in Metropolis, IL. It was uphill....both ways. When it wasn't raining, it was snowing. Once there, we ran with scissors during recess when we weren't playing tackle football in the gravel playground. My mother was there when I got home from school.

Where have the goodle days gone?

Ah, the were the good ole days. Those were the days when the "hokey pokey" was "what it's all about".

[MotherBear]

I'm really not sure how you balance the needs of protecting children with that sort of allergy while also not preventing the other kids from participating in normal kid things. I've always come down more on the side of the latter, but having the experience of being close to someone dealing with that sort of allergy gives me a little more appreciation for that side of things.

I haven't had children in school for a while, but we used to sent a note to the school nurse [do they have them anymore?] and they would advise the teachers of the allergies. I remember there was a young diabetic girl in school so they made sure that they had valentine treats especially for her. The same information for children allergic to penicillin and bee stings was given to the nurse. Maybe the HIPPA laws prevent that from happening today.

They definitely tell the school nurse and all the teachers. But it's when the allergic reaction is to the point that even a tiny, accidental amount could be life-threatening that you run into trouble. A child who will react if he touches a surface that was touched by someone who had a peanut butter sandwich, or one who will react if she's in a room where latex balloons have recently been, or one who will react even to the gluten in play-doh. I've known children who meet those descriptions. And on the one hand, darn it my kids live on PB&J and they love balloons and I don't know how to cook without flour and I don't think those things should be banned. But on the other hand, what do you say to those kids (and their parents)? Again, I don't have an answer as to how these things should be handled. I just know that I was always one to roll my eyes at the crazy allergy arguments and I'm beginning to see them with more sympathy now that I have a friend who tells me how scary it is to drop your child off at the beginning of the day and know that a small mistake could threaten his life.