True sorry for phrasing it that way.

Secondly in the videos the reporters even stated that the parents did not wish to speak to them. So how could that bit of information be public? Maybe the thought of donating is part of why they don't want to speak. It's a public school, that is why the reports have mentioned the federal law. A public school must adhere to the federal law when it comes to this little girl, as do all other public schools in the country that have children with sever allergies or any child with what is considered a disability. What are you watching or reading where the father is speaking? I'd like to see that if you could post the link please.

Yes but what's to keep a child from sneaking a peanut product? Which makes the school not a complete nut free environment. Again the parents are speaking to the press so how do we know that they aren't in the class room as a second set of eyes? Teachers aren't getting teachers aids like they use to, so they ask parents, siblings(i.e. 18+), & grandparents to come in & help. Also teachers are taught to use an EPI pen as a just in case situation. If the parents are confident that their daughter can go to school then they've obviously worked with her & have taught her what will happen if she eats/breathes in/touches/smells a nut of some form. Children now-a-days are extremely smart & pick up on consequences.

Here's a question: Has anyone picketing the "school" talked their children who are in class with her? Are any of them wanting to picket someone who is a friend? I'm sorry, I just don't think these parents are right in their actions.

**Again the parents are speaking to the press so how do we know that they aren't in the class room as a second set of eyes? Sorry that should say Again the parents aren't speaking to the press so how do we know that they aren't in the class room as a second set of eyes?

The parents have been quoted in various articles, particularly the father, giving his views on why he wants the kid to stay at the school. They simply didn't speak on TV. Alas, I've closed down my browser since I had all those articles up, but google 'edgewater elementary school peanut' and then click on all the links on the first page of hits, and you'll see a whole host of information. Also you can google other combinations, like 'parents protest peanut allergy' (I googled something like that the other day and came across some interesting forums where people were debating it).

And yep, I realised afterwards that it was a public school - I thought it was private because one of the placards said something about all parents having to pay for this kid's special needs - but it probably meant 'pay' less literally than I took it!

As for kids sneaking peanut products - yes, definitely, but that is another reason I would homeschool the kid to begin with. Kids may be taught all kinds of things nowadays, but the actual development of the brain means that young children do not always think of consequences on the spot when something happens - the brain takes a long time to develop in various ways. So what a child knows in theory will not automatically be applied in practice.

And again, the details of the extent of the allergy are frustratingly vague - some articles claim the kid will die immediately if she even touches a peanut, so if that is what they are claiming, it seems that she is too young to be in an environment where this could happen. Using common sense, I would assume that an epipen would stop her dying, and the teachers would be trained, so her dying instantly is not really so likely - but again, this is not what the articles are implying. That is why I suspect a lot of it is hype and not being represented quite accurately.

I'm not quite sure what you mean about the question of parents talking to their children. As one of the placards says 'Talk to your first grader', I would infer from that their kids are telling them stuff about what's going on in school, and they are having conversations about it. I've seen nothing about the details of the conversation.

Oh, and google 'peanut allergy misunderstanding' to see the info about the parents thinking the disinfectant was being used on their kids' faces and that the peanut dog would be sniffing the school regularly when their kids were present (as opposed to when the school is vacated, which is apparently what is happening). There are loads of articles on that.

Hope that helps. There's loads of stuff if you google. I always try to google around this kind of thing, because there's generally more to it than meets the eye! And even then, we never get all the info!

Oh ok, I thought it was all press they weren't speaking to.

That's a good point. Some peanut allergies are that sever & the EPI pen only buys enough time for paramedics to arrive & take over. It's not a cure to the allergy or any allergy(we thought my sister was allergic to apples so I had to learn about the EPI pen). I was under the impression hers was only sever on the level that she couldn't eat it & touch it.

I will have to google all that because all the teachers I've been around don't even let the kids near the cleaning wipes because of the chemicals in them. And most schools are under a budget crisis so I don't know how this school could afford a peanut sniffy dog when music classes, & teachers are being cut to keep the budget under control.

Oh I did not see that placard. I was thinking that the parents are just upset because they feel like the school is only focusing on one individual child & not making their child special as well.

LOL I always forget about google. I will definitely have to do that later today.

The placards are quite revealing in terms of the issues being raised. There's also 'No to Clorex wipes', which is about the parents thinking the wipes were being used on their kids' mouths (the school claims this was a misunderstanding and they were just being used to wipe tables), and a placard about the peanut-sniffing dog. Actually, you can see some of the placards in the vid in the article linked in the OP. The peanut-sniffing dog came in during the spring break - it's mentioned in several articles. And gosh, yes, I didn't even think of the cost of that - so even in a public school, this will potentially be an issue as the school will still have funds that it needs to allocate for all the children, unless it's extra 'disability' funding that comes from a different source. And a peanut sniffing dog does seem a bit extreme - and a bit pointless if he only comes occasionally. New peanuts could potentially be brought in any day. I'm not sure what difference a peanut sniffing dog coming in during spring break would make - unless the school had been peanut ridden before and the child was first entering the school after spring break. But this doesn't seem to be the case.

I'll have to go back & look at the video because I don't remember seeing that one. Yeah I'm wondering if maybe the there's a 'disability' fund that we don't know about or if they are using funds that are suppose to go towards something else. That is just crazy, and you make a good point about the dog coming in during Spring Break. Sure they'll smell peanuts from before the kids left but that doesn't help if peanuts are brought in after the fact. I wish there was more rock hard information for us because at this point all of it his speculation.

Here's a page with pics of some of the banners. The one about the 'happy median' amuses me - I suspect some of the parents aren't too bright! ;D And here's an article with a pic of the little girl and pics of her parents, and quotes from her parents.

A huge factor in this equation (from looking at the video and a couple of websites) is the parents felt angry that they weren't being informed by the school about what was going on. Lack of communication always leads to bad feelings. And so some misunderstandings were arising, such as they believed the disinfectant wipes were being used on their kids' mouths, and that peanut sniffing dogs were coming in to sniff their kids.

I can totally see how rumours could arise - if their first grader is telling them about what's going on in school, and the school isn't keeping them informed, and they're hearing speculation from other parents, they're not going to get a very accurate picture. And on top of that, they have no proof. Maybe the school is lying and they don't know. Maybe the school did panic a bit to begin with and wipe the kids' mouths with the Clorex wipes, and now realises they shouldn't have done that and are denying it. Realistically, it's likely that the school will present things in the best possible light, and change facts a bit in how they present stuff to the press, because they don't want to get into trouble. So how do the parents know who to believe, if their first grader is telling them one thing and the school is denying it? Speculation easily turns into assumption and then into mass indignation (just think of the assumptions Bloopers made about all the 'powers' that staff had, without actually asking us, and probably not trusting us to tell the truth if they did ask - huge mass indignation based on totally inaccurate facts!).

It's one of those stories where there's clearly more to it than is being represented by the media. I very much doubt it's a simple case of parents being indignant that their children have to wash their hands several times a day. And of course, there is always going to be the instinctive desire to win - it becomes fight mentality, and people want to fight for the principle of the matter. So even if logically the parents realised that it would be better to homeschool their kid, they might be so much on a roll, and so fired up about the fact that in principle their kid should be allowed to remain at school, that they'll keep fighting. And the same for the parents fighting about the extra half hour and the Clorex wipes - it'll be more the principle of it. I think in a lot of such fights, the needs of the child become secondary to the principle and the desire not to be beaten - on both sides!

can you share the link that talks about using disinfectant on the children & the peanut sniffing dogs?