So many things to write about, so many thoughts to organize in this brain of mine. Today was a day to focus on an impending diagnosis for my second son, however the Pediatrician said that he was stumped, that he could go either way, my son may be autistic or he may just be quirky, lots of red flags but is there enough? I do not get nearly as much money as this man and I already knew that! So now we wait for yet another appointment for further assessment... Sheesh......
My thoughts were somewhat clouded during this appointment due to a phone call I received from the school as I was driving to the hospital. It was the Vice Principal, it was regarding my oldest son. Immediately I knew it had to do with one of 2 bullies who have decided my boy should be the target of their insecure cruelty. I was right, it was the new kid, the kid whose parents were not impressed because they could not send peanut butter to school. The kid whose parents thought that this was the greatest injustice. There are lots of children with severe nut allergies in the school, my oldest is one of them. What was to follow next surprised me as I generally do not expect 7 year old boys to make threats to another child's life but I felt my blood boil as she informed me that this child had threatened to rub peanut butter in my sons face, particularly his mouth, an act that would kill him in less than 2 minutes. I was further informed that the boy had had a good talking to, his parents had been called and it would not happen again... wow, apparently threats are okay because I know a 10 minute talking to does not really drive the point home. I am sure the offended peanut parents find their sons behaviour irresponsible and will have a lengthy talk with him... I hope you can sense the sarcasm dripping from my voice. It took 2 weeks, notes home and finally not allowing the child to eat his sandwich for them to respect the school peanut policy. My rant will now take 2 directions, peanut allergies and bullying policies in schools.
Anyone who has a child or who has been a child, knows that a good talking to, with no other consequences, will rarely stop a behaviour. This is why bullying never stops, the schools think this is actually dealing with the issue. The kids who are bullied, eventually snap and they are the ones dealt with harshly! I worked in a school as a CDA, kinda like a counsellor. I saw a boy who had been horribly bullied finally snap when pushed too far. He was not a violent grade 2 but he said "I am going to kill you" to the little bully that had been relentlessly harassing him. He was suspended for uttering threats. The other boy had a stern talking to - tell me how this is fair. Same school division as my son is in but apparently the policies are different from school to school as my son had a direct death threat made and all the other kid was given was a stern talking to. This other child is very aware of what could happen to my son if he had peanuts smeared in his face, this is something that has been made quite clear throughout the entire school. He threatens my son again and my son has been advised to protect himself by any means necessary, the school can deal with me. I will be in the school tomorrow morning, having this conversation with the principal.
Aside from how it devastated my family would be if this kid followed through on his threat, think of what a sad state our society is in to value peanut butter more than a child. As my sons principal said "A child's right to life supersedes a child's right to peanut butter". You would think, if you are even remotely logical, that many would believe this, but you would be amazed at how many parents get mad because their child cannot have one peanut butter sandwich a day. I even have had a family member state that she thought it was unfair and she thought her children deserved to eat what they wanted. I am not sure where in our society things went so wrong that a food product became more important than the life of a child. How a food product became more important than a child's right to an education - many parents believe nut allergic kids should be segregated. I am not sure if it is ignorance or sheer stupidity! An allergy to a peanut does not always mean a rash or runny nose, to the kids with severe allergies it means immediate swelling of airways and mucus membranes, this leads to severe brain damage and/or death within minutes. The only thing to stop this is epinephrine administered within moments and this just buys the allergic person time. It is about time that as a society, we got over the whole "I have a right" mentality. Shit, we should all just lie on the ground and kick our feet like toddlers if this is how we are going to live our lives. Maybe we should utilize the compassion, understanding and brains that make us the "smartest" animals on earth. I am blown away....
My writing is different tonight, it comes from a place of anger, hurt and confusion. I will take these feelings and utilize them to educate and fight. All I ask is that next time you feel frustrated as a parent because you want to send your kid with peanut butter, sit back and imagine the smallest of things (.00001 of a peanut)could kill your child within minutes. Would you not want him or her to have a safe place to live, learn, laugh and play? Would you not want others to care even a fraction as much as you do? Would you not want your child's life to be more important than a peanut butter sandwich??
No comments:
Post a Comment