Allergic reaction of Melbourne girl Amelie King sparks debate over school nut ban

Updated

A photo of a Melbourne girl who suffered an allergic reaction on her first day of school has sparked heated social media debate about whether nuts should be banned from children's lunchboxes.

Amelie King, who was diagnosed with anaphylaxis as a baby, was exposed to peanuts on Monday after playing with a child who had earlier been in contact with the food.

The five-year-old was sent home early with a swollen face, but her mother Joanne King says it could have been much worse.

Should a parent have to fear their child dying on the first day of school? Joanne King via Facebook

"When I heard that it was the sick bay calling I thought maybe she's been unwell or injured herself or fallen off a swing," she said.

"I didn't actually contemplate that she'd been possibly exposed to peanuts.

"Fortunately for Amelie her reaction was only mild. But I have heard ... of far more severe [reactions], even just through sniffing peanuts."

Ms King posted a photo of Amelie's reaction on Facebook in a bid to raise awareness of the dangers of anaphylaxis.

"Should a parent have to fear their child dying on the first day of school?" the photo caption read.

The post urged parents to weigh up their child's enjoyment of a "very nutritious snack of nuts" against the potential for a death in the playground.

"A simple sharing of pencils or a game of ring-a-rosy is all you need to pass on the nut oil," it read.

"This message is from one of those annoying parents of a child with anaphylaxis, because I don't want my child to die."

The photo was shared thousands of times by users of the social media site, and Ms King says she has received "over 15,000 messages".

She says the responses have been "on a real mixed continuum", with some offering support and others "trying to come up with a constructive solution".

However, the post has also attracted criticism, with some users saying it should not be their responsibility to consider the needs of other children.

Why should one child miss out on peanut butter or Nutella sandwiches because a child in their class MIGHT have an attack. What about children that have reactions to dairy. Do we remove cheese and milk from the school lunch box.... Perhaps we should just feed our children tofu and lettuce until some allergy forms from those products as well.

You shouldn't make other people feel bad for their choice of food and where does it stop? Park, shops, pubs. The child needs to learn how to protect herself in life forever.

I have had a daughter with cancer who was in school. I never demanded that all of the other kids stay home when they had a slight cold, rather the teacher told me and I had my daughter stay home. My feeling is it's my burden and my child is the one with the problem, why should I force others to do what I want? I am the one to take care of my daughter. I don't want the school to be responsible for her safety. I feel parents of kids with allergies need to take reaponsibility (sic) for their own child and not alter other kids' dietary habits.

If my kid had this severe of reaction to his allergies, I sure wouldn't be sending him to public school, and I definitely wouldn't be asking other kids/parents to give up something they love.. PB and J are very popular lunch items... Its your kid, and its your job to protect them, not mine!

Ms King says the comments are hard to read, because her daughter's life is potentially at stake.

"It's always in my mind about if she might come across something that could trigger an allergic reaction," she said.

We absolutely hound into her the sort of vigilance she has to learn to have, and the strategies she needs to have on how to manage it. But unfortunately we also rely on the safety of the community as well. Joanne King

"We absolutely hound into her the sort of vigilance she has to learn to have, and the strategies she needs to have on how to manage it. But unfortunately we also rely on the safety of the community as well."

However, Ms King says she understands that it is a "tricky" situation for other parents.

"It makes me a bit angry that people aren't perhaps a bit more community minded," she said.

"However, I do understand people are inflexible or maybe not open to different ideas."

Ban on nuts in schools 'could be a good idea'

Amelie's father, Matt, says a blanket ban on nuts in schools could be the way to go.

"It's a very big debate. I think for her age when she's just five it's possibly a good idea," he said.

"Once they're a little bit older obviously you can't do that entirely and control the situations that they're in but they do become more aware when they're a bit older and a bit more responsible.

"But certainly at the prep age, yeah, might be a good idea.

We're not going to say don't give your kids these things but just maybe don't send them to school with them. Amelie's father Matt

"We're not going to say don't give your kids these things but just maybe don't send them to school with them."

Ms King says when her daughter started kindergarten, she also faced restrictions on what foods she could pack because other children had allergies.

"We weren't allowed to bring dairy, we weren't allowed to bring a number of different things," she said.

"Even though I need to be conscious of what I'm packing for Amelie in terms of nuts, I thought 'what do we pack for them, there's not much left'.

"But there are fantastic snacks that don't contain any of these products."

Amelie has now returned to school "in very good spirits".

Topics: allergies, family-and-children, children, health, diet-and-nutrition, schools, diseases-and-disorders, melbourne-3000, vic, australia

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