Eighth-Grader Faces Felony Charge for Planting Nuts

[RetPara]

My son has this allergy. Everyone in our school system has been great for all 13 years of him going to school. He once spent two days in an oxygen tent after being in the same room with an open bottle of peanut butter. I would goberserk if some kid did that to him.


Eighth-Grader Faces Felony Charge for Planting Nuts in Lunch of Allergic Classmate

Sunday , April 20, 2008

LEXINGTON, Ky. —
An eighth-grader in Kentucky is accused of putting peanut butter cookie crumbs in the lunchbox of a classmate with a severe peanut allergy.

The allergic student did not eat the cookies Thursday at Morton Middle School in Lexington.

Fayette County schools spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall says the accused student was arrested on a felony wanton endangerment charge. The student will face charges in the juvenile court system.

Deffendall says it was well known that the other student suffered allergies. There was no known history of problems between the two 13-year-olds.

For those allergic to peanuts, trace amounts of peanut oil can cause severe reactions and even death.

[Spinner]

In my state, that would be considered food tampering, a felony.

That has to be a tough affliction to live with. Even when peanuts aren't used directly in a product, sometimes a trace of them can sneak in during the packaging process.

[RGR.Montcalm]

What the fuck possesses kids these days? Too many viewings of 'JACKASS the movie'??

His parents need to wear out a belt on his dumb ass. Oh yeah, and have him castrated so he can't pass on the dumbass/stupity gene...:mad:

[SIG 229]

What the fuck possesses kids these days? Too many viewings of 'JACKASS the movie'??

His parents need to wear out a belt on his dumb ass. Oh yeah, and have him castrated so he can't pass on the dumbass/stupity gene...:mad:
+1 to that!

It's amazing to me how many problems are coming up because of nuts. To do something that stupid is outrageous. If the parents can't do the discipline..I'll volunteer!

[PocketKings]

This is why children below the age of 2 should not have any nuts at all. Or shell fish, or egg products. Most allergies develop within the first 24 months of age, plus a reaction at that young might kill them.

[WS-G]

...have him castrated....
Recommended technique: suspend by feet, shoulder-width apart to allow for clear shot. Invite all offended parties to file past with axe handles and baseball bats and pummel away.

[RGR.Montcalm]

Could imagine what you could do with a sand wedge? :eek::eek:

[jsmurphy]

From the title of the thread I thought maybe some dude planted his nuts in a chick's face. :D

[KidA]

F'd up.

But can someone tell me what is up with this peanut allergy? I never heard of it growing up. Never knew anyone any any of my school systems (and I had about 10 of them) who had it. I never heard of this until I was in my late 20s, now it is prevalent. Foods now say they were processed near peanuts, can't take peanuts out of 5-guys restaurants, etc, etc.

Am I wrong or is this a pretty new thing? And if it is, what in the hell is causing it?

Anyone?

[Believeraz]

I also thought, from the thread title, that someone else's chin would be a part of the story.

[ex]

F'd up.

But can someone tell me what is up with this peanut allergy? I never heard of it growing up. Never knew anyone any any of my school systems (and I had about 10 of them) who had it. I never heard of this until I was in my late 20s, now it is prevalent. Foods now say they were processed near peanuts, can't take peanuts out of 5-guys restaurants, etc, etc.

Am I wrong or is this a pretty new thing? And if it is, what in the hell is causing it?

Anyone?
I never heard of it when I was younger, either. I found this article:

New research indicates that early exposure to peanuts—most commonly peanut butter—and increasing consumption of it may be contributing to the prevalence of the allergy.

Peanut butter is the champion of comfort food. So how did comfort turn so lethal? Some note that the immune system is seemingly a busybody in need of something to do. For instance, allergies are most common in areas where traditional childhood diseases have been eradicated.

“The immune system is like a balance,” says Dr. Sicherer, “On one side are allergies and on the other are infections. When one side is fighting bacterial infections, the other side making allergies is quiet. For instance, since we vaccinate people, they have less polio and diphtheria. But some studies suggest now that the immune system isn’t fighting all these bacteria and viruses, the side that causes allergy is causing more trouble.”
link (http://www.calgaryallergy.ca/Articles/English/whypeanutswhynow.html)

[Believeraz]

I have seen peanut warning signs on restaurant and store doors before. It's amazing how sensitive peanut allergies can be over some other allergies.

I had a protectee once who had a severe nut allergy. We carried Epi-pens everywhere....

Anaphylaxis is scary stuff.

[RetPara]

This is something that has really come to the forefront in the last 25 years or so. Peanuts are so pervasive as an ingredient that you really have to label shop to avoid them. I think that has what has brought on this really drastic allergy. For well over 100 years peanuts have been used as a food supplement, cooking oil, or ingredient.

The person can go into what looks like a serious asthma attack or into anaphlatic shock where they swell up like a balloon and their breathing is cut off. DS has carried a epi pen all through school. I have gone every semester to teach the teachers how to use it. Some have balked and I have given the choice to use or watch him die. Our instructions in front of witnesses to teachers have always been when in doubt, hit him with the pen, call an ambulance, THEN CALL US. I'd rather be safe than sorry and he'll get over the epinepran easier than suffocation.

[sawbones]

I read something in nursing school, 97-98?, about allergies becoming more prevelent in low income families. Their theory was that more families were on/in WIC programs. A primary staple is 2 jars of peanut butter a week. They corelate the increase of lactose intolerance cases to it as well.

And yes my first thought when I saw the thread title was going to mention sack on chin too.:D

[Typhoon]

At the middle school I worked at I saw a 7th grader go into severe reaction from sitting at a cafeteria table next to another table where a kid had a peanut butter sandwich. The poor school nurse, who was in her very first day in a school, had to give the kid an epi shot. It wasn't pretty. The actions of the accused student are very bad indeed...

[The91Bravo]

Son of a bitch....

he's got a bright future... in the criminal justice system...

[PocketKings]

It has something to do with the protein in the nuts. Some people have trouble processing it and have a proclivity towards the allergy. This is why Drs recommend no PB until age 2; when the digestive system is more able to handle it. This goes for all nuts of that type, and eggs, and shellfish. This also is true for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers.

I've had this conversation with my Brother in Law (allergist/pediatrician) during our 5 hour bike rides and 3 hour runs training for Ironman. He is adamant about this topic because he's so sick of seeing kids with this horrible allergy.

As for the immunization link - who knows? Autism, allergies, ADD...there's a bunch of things popping up.

[ex]

My kids are only teenagers, but I was never told not to feed them those types of foods when they were under two. I guess I got lucky that they didn't have any reaction.

[PocketKings]

I ate nothing BUT PB&J when I was less than 2. That's why I was so taken aback by his advice.

[Keganswar]

What this young person did was wrong, and in most cases I am not for blaming the parents because more and more in this day and age kids grow up fast and start making there own decision no matter how much we love them and want what we feel is best for them. In this case however I would lay the blame on the parents. This type of act reeks of disrespect for themselves and others.

I see this type of behavior by kids as a symptom of the state being more and more involved in how a family parents a child. Traditional punishment that when used responsibly by a parent is a way to curb this type of learned behavior. Unfortunately due to the knee jerk reaction of over correction in this country, these types of traditional parenting tools will get you in some serious trouble. Or worse could result in the possible lose of your child.

.0002 cents

[WS-G]

Autism...
I'd like to see some hard comparative data, however there seems to be a correlation between this and the fact that we're now onto a third generation amongst whom recreational drug use is the norm. I can't imagine a kid being born to two user parents, with possibly all four grandparents having a history of drug abuse, and not having physiologically based mental health issues.

...allergies...Lactose intolerance isn't actually an allergy, strictly speaking, however far more people have it to some degree or another than generally realized (I'm one of them; milk products are my number one food aversion).

Another thing that's cropping up is hypersensitivity to glycols. Propylene, polypropylene and polyethylene glycols (often listed on labels as PG/PPG/PEG) are used as emulsifiers in a wide array of topical medications, toiletries and cosmetic items and despite being classified as an "inert" ingredient, some people do have some nasty reactions to it (severe contact dermatitis in my case: flares up on contact, takes days or even weeks to fully clear up). I'm unable to use most of the more recent formulations of such things as:


Sunscreen. I use zinc oxide in petrolatum with excellent results, and it doesn't smell like coconut!
Calamine lotion. This, BTW, was how I ended up getting diagnosed with glycol hypersensitivity in the first place. I'd tried three brands of OTC remedies for poison ivy in a row, with the result that the initial condition was only made worse. Much worse :eek:.
Wipes/towelettes/hand sanitizers. Not a big deal anyway, IMO. If you have space for those things, you have space for extra water, soap and/or a bottle of rubbing alcohol. I pack a fistful of extra alcohol swabs for "disinfecting" and it works just fine.
Insect repellents. Check formulations carefully. I do not use issue repellent, with the exception of pyrethrin on clothing. I'm sure quite a number of other readers here could add to the list.

ADDI tend to agree with Dr. Keirsey's (do a search for the article he wrote on that subject a few years ago) assertion that ADD is a scam: an excuse to get more kids onto drugs.

[PocketKings]

I'm willing to consider any legitimate reason/explanation for any of the above. Unfortunately, medical science is often not.

And I agree on the ADD thing.

[MADdog58]

I tend to agree with Dr. Keirsey's (do a search for the article he wrote on that subject a few years ago) assertion that ADD is a scam: an excuse to get more kids onto drugs.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but where I grew up, parents still RAISED their children, they didn't just HAVE children, if you take my meaning. In an elementary school that had approximately 700 children at any given time, I can only ever remember running accross a handfull of diagnosed ADHD types. Typically, they were the kids whose parents weren't too involved to begin with. The obvious answer was dope 'em up. Because that's the best way to manage difficult behaviour :rolleyes:

I'm no scientist, but is it possible that most behavioural disorders are just that...behavioural? I'm not saying there is no creedance to the concept of chemical imbalances, but I think the primary trouble lies more with the parents in most cases, than it does with the children. In certain cases pharmacoptherapy might be justified, but I'm willing to bet that in most cases the issue could be managed with positive corrective action and a little guidance.

Than again, I'm no statistician either, maybe my area was an anomaly. I do know one thing, I recently read the findings of a study that found an alarmingly high number of parents of children diagnosed with ADHD had little knowledge or concept of what the condition is or how it will affect their child in the immediate and distant future.

I'd like to think that if someone smart ever told me my kid had problem "X", I'd be all over every scrap of info I could find on the subject. But then again, I'm weird. :D

[VelociMorte]

I tend to agree with Dr. Keirsey's (do a search for the article he wrote on that subject a few years ago) assertion that ADD is a scam: an excuse to get more kids onto drugs.

The cure for ADD used to be a board across the ass. A couple of doses administered a few seconds seconds apart, and every adult had your full and undivided attention.

[SheJAG]

Recent studies have shown many increasingly common food allergies may also result from bio-engineering of the agri products to increase production yields and subsequent cross pollination with less engineered versions(corn was the study item).

As for ADD/ADHD, recent studies have supported the theory that up to 60% of the kids diagnosed ACTUALLY suffer from chronic sleep deprivation. When they are put on an appropriate sleep schedule for their age and individual needs, almost all of their symptoms disappear w/in 6 wks and many of them have no further need of any medication and have noticeably improved behavior.

[MADdog58]

SheJAG: You wouldn't by chance still have a link or other location identifier for that study ref: sleep dep and ADHD correlation would you?

[RetPara]

SheJAG: You wouldn't by chance still have a link or other location identifier for that study ref: sleep dep and ADHD correlation would you?

SheJAG will get back to you after her nappy....:o

[CombatWombat]

+1 on the no eggs at a young age deal. My younger son began to develop an allergy to egg protein when he was about 18 months (kid loves scrambled eggs) and the doc told me to cut all egg anything out of his diet for at least six months. Much like peanuts, egg and egg derived products seem to be in freaking everything. We pulled it off and after a year we slowly reintroduced eggs into his diet. No problems now.

I think the very high amount of processed food in our diets is a significant factor in the rise of childhood food allergies. I have no data on this, just a hunch. I'm lactarded myself, but I think that's due to my partially Asian genetics. I think kids today get bombarded by an amazingly wide variety of chemicals at an early age which I cannot help but believe cause developmental problems. This goes far beyond food. I think folks would be much more hesitant to ever let their kids be exposed to so many plastics if they really understood how nasty the chemicals involved in polymer creation are. Nasty. 10 dollar 'ho on a tuesday morning nasty.

[SheJAG]

SheJAG: You wouldn't by chance still have a link or other location identifier for that study ref: sleep dep and ADHD correlation would you?

Sorry MADdog58, I don't have a link. It was on one of several medical journal pages I use for reseaching cases for work. I found it back in the fall when I researched a case involving a sleep disorder.

[MADdog58]

Sorry MADdog58, I don't have a link. It was on one of several medical journal pages I use for reseaching cases for work. I found it back in the fall when I researched a case involving a sleep disorder.

Thanks anyways! I'll have to try and track it down myself, as this is a topic that seems to come up a lot at work. Thanks again for the tip-off though.