While it's hard to know for certain, it's unlikely that food allergy bullying is a new phenomenon. But the number of children diagnosed with food allergies is growing, which means it could harm more people. From 1997 to 2007, the number of children with food allergies increased by 18 percent according to Center for Disease and Prevention. Hospitalizations associated with these allergies also continue to grow. Parents and schools can make a big difference in how kids with food allergies are treated. Many students with serious food allergies, which qualify as a disability under the law to set up a 504 plan. A written blueprint for how schools will accommodate that student's needs. This has led to things like Nut-Free Zones in the classroom or lunchroom which makes it less likely that there will be accidental ingestion of an allergen, but does little to discourage would-be bullies from putting someone with an allergy in harm's way. Unfortunately, you can't stop bullying by focusing on the victim alone, but having schools that have zero-tolerance for bullying and teach bystanders to step in, will decreases the trajectory of being a bully. Most food bullying starts in 1st grade and often ends by 7th. Education is the key to teaching kids that this behavior is absolutely unacceptable. If you need a spoke person to come speak to elementary students or pre-school students, I offer a kid friendly video and 2 books with fun art projects afterwards. If you are interested in me coming to your school to do a program, please contact me at: [email protected] Katie |
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