School Bullies Target Children with Food Allergies

Filed in archive Food Allergies , Living with Allergies on April 13, 2007

Right now, all my son's peers are very understanding and accepting of his food allergies and do not make a big deal out of it. My son's dietary limitations has not -- or at least I don't think so-- marked him as an outcast, or hasn't so far made a dent in his social development.

That said, bullying in school because of food allergies are not unheard of. As a mother of a food-allergic child, I am horrified upon reading news like these:

School bullies are taunting children who have deadly nut allergies, threatening to force-feed them food that could harm them. [snip]

"We get lots of reports of bullying," the SA co-ordinator of AAI, Di Edwards, said. "Things like children saying, `I've got a sandwich with peanut butter, let's see what happens', and chasing them around the school.

As the articles goes to say, increasing awareness among the staff and students alike is the key to minimizing such episodes. I just hope there's a way to ensure that nobody -- food allergic or not-- suffers bullying in school.