Feb 14, 2019, Romper: Food Bans In Schools Might Be Annoying, But They Save Lives https://www.romper.com/p/food-bans-in-schools-might-be-annoying-but-they-save-lives-15954115 There will be no cookies today. My kids attend a school with a new policy banning outside food for class parties. And our school is not alone: districts across the nation have adopted similar guidelines. The reason? Kids with food allergies. According to the CDC, the prevalence of food allergies — many life threatening — has increased by 50 percent since 1997. … If there was child in our school who needed a wheelchair ramp, a specialized desk, or an adaptive communication device to participate in school fully and safely, not many parents would be lining up to argue for denying that child accommodations. Yet debates are blowing up on social media across the nation about allergy-safe parties and classrooms. It can be overwhelming and frustrating when a school implements new policies, but these debates have gone far beyond that to shaming the families with allergies…. Change is hard, but this is one area where I choose to lead by example with my kids. If we as parents are excited about the way that our schools celebrate holidays, our kids will be too. If I complain and bemoan the changes and reminisce about bygone sugar comas, my kids will think they are missing out on something.
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Childhood Lost
Children today are noticeably different from previous generations, and the proof is in the news coverage we see every day. This site shows you what’s happening in schools around the world. Children are increasingly disabled and chronically ill, and the education system has to accommodate them. Things we've long associated with autism, like sensory issues, repetitive behaviors, anxiety and lack of social skills, are now problems affecting mainstream students. Blame is predictably placed on bad parenting (otherwise known as trauma from home).
Addressing mental health needs is as important as academics for modern educators. This is an unrecognized disaster. The stories here are about children who can’t learn or behave like children have always been expected to. What childhood has become is a chilling portent for the future of mankind.
Anne Dachel, Media editor, Age of Autism
http://www.ageofautism.com/media/
(John Dachel, Tech. assist.)
What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism
The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist
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