This post was written by Abigail Mack, a Master's student in one of my classes here at UK. When I do my YouTube Assignment, I try to find ways to reward the best work and I thought this post warranted publishing. Enjoy.
Allergy bullying occurs when one individual intimidates a person, usually a schoolmate, by threatening to expose that person to food that they are allergic to.[1] This phenomenon is dangerous and possibly deadly form of bullying for children with food allergies. Many parents were already concerned about peanut products in their children’s school lunches, but many schools have taken steps to protect students with peanut allergies. Some schools have a “peanut free” lunch table, while other schools have adopted various measures including making peanut butter sandwiches offsite or providing very young students with a 504 Plan for their allergy.[2] Despite these precautions, parents now have to be concerned that a bully will force their child to encounter a peanut product. Incidents of allergy bullying have doubled in the last five years, forcing some schools to ban peanut products on school grounds.[3] Incidents New York –During the spring of 2007 in Mastic, NY a group of girls harassed fourteen year-old Sarah VanEssendelft with peanut butter sandwiches when they decided they no longer wanted VanEssendelft sitting at their lunch table. One day they all brought the sandwiches to lunch so that VanEssendelft could not sit with them. A few days later, a boy in one of VanEssendelft’s class brought a peanut butter cup and ate it in class, which sent her to the hospital for four days. Since the incident VanEssendelft’s mother has applied for a 504 plan, the school banned eating in all classrooms, and the school will consider future allergy bullying as discrimination against a disability.[4] Kentucky- Officials arrested an eighth grade girl after she put peanut butter cookie crumbs in a classmate’s lunch box. The bullying victim did not eat the crumbs and she did not have an allergic reaction from exposure. However, the bully is now facing felony charges in juvenile court for wanton endangerment.[5] Legal Issues Allergy bullying falls under the terms of most state’s anti-bullying policies. As of April 2008 thirty states had adopted an anti-bullying policy aimed at defining, preventing, and outlining the consequences associated with bullying in school. Most of these policies encourage an early reporting system aimed at preventing initial incidents from continuing and escalating. State anti-bullying policies do differ. Some states do not define bullying categorically, meaning that their policies do not define harassment based on gender, sexual orientation, and other categories of discrimination. For More Information on Bullying and Allergy Bullying see: State-by-State Anti-Bullying Laws in the United States Word Spy. “Allergy Bullying.” Retrieved March 29, 2009 “Peanut Butter and Deadly Taunts:” “Bullying Case Grabs Attention:” Abigail Mack [1] Word Spy. “Allergy Bullying.” Retrieved March 29, 2009 from http://www.wordspy.com/words/allergybullying.asp [2] Karen Plumley, “Life Threatening Food Allergies in School: What Schools are Doing for Kids who are Allergic to Peanuts.” Retrieved March 29, 2009 from http://specialneedseducation.suite101.com/article.cfm/food_allergies_in_school [3] Lauren Cox,“Peanut Butter and Deadly Taunts.” Retrieved March 29, 2009 from http://abcnews.go.com/Health/AllergiesNews/story?id=4659705 [4] Ibid. [5] Claire Gagne, “Bullying Case Grabs Attention.” Retrieved March 29, 2009 from http://www.allergicliving.com/features.asp?copy_id=172