Nut allergies cause heightened campus awareness

Nuts are now included among the many substances and foods recognized as dangerous by the administration. Around campus, bright pink sheets of laminated paper warn, “This is a [nut-free] zone. Do not eat nuts in this space!”

At the beginning of the school year, the enrollment of three students with severe nut allergies led the administration to take action. Although many feeder schools such as Redwood Middle School have long disallowed nuts, this is the first attempt to restrict what SHS students eat.

After receiving health records from families and feeder schools, the office asked that students and teachers in the affected classrooms not eat any fruit, legume or kernel that could be considered a nut, including but not limited to peanuts, cashews and walnuts.

For students with serious allergies to these foods, a mere taste could result in anaphylaxis, a potentially fatal tightening of the throat that is rapid in onset and may cause death. Milder reactions include rashes and swelling.

“Just counting peanuts, we have several students on campus who are mildly or severely allergic,” assistant principal Brian Safine said. “But there have been no negative reactions on campus to date; this is just precautionary.”

One such student is freshman Lucas Peng, who experiences a potentially fatal reaction to any nut. Peng appreciates the safety measures the school is taking but feels that too many people do not sincerely care.

“I’ve seen some teachers eat nuts in classrooms with the signs,” Peng said. He believes that the rule is currently more of a suggestion than a rule because it is not enforced.
Safine said the signs serve more as guidelines than an actual rule. The administration does not see a need for strict enforcement or punishment because taking the necessary caution should be common sense for both teachers and students. The signs are posted as a warning to help keep students as healthy as possible within a safe learning environment.

“We subsequently need to be more aware as well,” Safine said. “We want to err on the side of caution and stop incidents before they happen.”