Bullying Children With Food Allergies

My third son, now a middle aged man, had a middle school teacher who said he "faked" his asthma

attacks.

The inhaler had to be kept in the office; and his home room teacher made the decision if he needed it or not.  Once when he needed to use it in the office, under supervision, a visiting fireman asked" hey kid are you getting high"???

His child with multiple allergies is going to a private school where the concerns of welfare for the child and believability of the parent are taken seriously

Of course, the recent lawsuits and newspaper publicity about children's allergies may contribute to a

better handling too.  Kathie

My daughter has severe peanut and tree nut allergies and has been occasionally teased about it. Sometimes kids ask her if she is allergic to non-food items and sometimes they have interrogated her when she has to refuse the birthday cake at a party.

Since she can't have bakery goods due to the cross-contamination risk, the b-day cake question comes up a lot. Sometimes kids will say: "But this cake doesn't have peanuts in it" and act like she's making the whole thing up.

It's been hard for her but she has learned how to explain (even when she was much younger) that just because something may not contain nuts, doesn't mean she can eat it.

For the most part, though, the kids accept her and many times their questions are out of concern for her. Still, the teasing bothers her and she is learning to stand up for herself and to deal with it. It's part of her life and many people give her a lot of support with her allergies so we try to keep things positive for her and I think that helps.