Unlike products APPLIED DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD, though, this stuff actually is documented to work. Here’s the US Fed on the topic:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/natural/patient-peppermint.html

The “allergy” argumentation is perfectly valid, considering the litigious nature of American society.

The last sentence displays irresponsibility on the part of the parents

“This was a violation of our code of conduct. There’s no question about that,” Feltman said. “It’s uncontested that the child brought an over-the-counter substance to the school. It’s uncontested that she gave it to other children. We teach children from kindergarten not to do that. The reason is you may not know what allergies and what kind of problems other people have.”

Feltman said the label on the bottle stated very clearly that it should be kept out the reach of children. “The label says ’Caution, keep out of the reach of children,’ ” he said. “Nothing could be plainer. And a 10-year-old can read that.”

Yet, knowing all of this, they didn’t teach the kids what to do if there was ever a problem. And to make matters worse, even though this kid has a deadly allergy to PB, the epi-pen MUST be stored in the nurses office and cannot be kept anywhere else. So if something were to happen, they need to drag/carry him to the nurse in order to get him help.. I can only hope there’s never a problem because I honestly think he wouldn’t make it..

That sounded a bit harsh, but I hope you get my drift – a few cases of “Stephen is really allergic to peanuts, so he could die if he eats anything that has touched peanuts: For safety’s sake, he can’t eat anything he didn’t bring himself” seems to beat a blanket “you can’t share food” wildly, in the sensibility stakes.

(Well, apart from the “OMG! Someone has to PAY!”-reaction from the parents the day something goes wrong, yeah …)

When I was in elementary school (a looong time ago), some kids brought in peppermint soaked toothpicks to share and trade. The school rounded us all up in the library and told us it was a drug. They sent a scary letter home to every parent telling them about the dangers of peppermint oil.

My dad rang the poison control hotline to ask if they’d heard about peppermint oil poisoning and they laughed out loud.

I can’t believe this is still happening.

…Dangerous shit.

Considering the prevalence of mint items in society, I’m pretty sure that you would know if you were allergic to mint or not by the time you could speak whole sentences.

Except there is no nurse. California, at least, cut school nurses out of the budget.

ten year olds are perfectly capable of understanding what an allergy is.

What this school is fighting is a principle, a measure necessary given the litigious nature of US society, not the peppermint oil per se.

You want to blame somebody? Most of you can go in front of a mirror and chastise the individual that shows up there (the US is the only country I know where people talk about “their lawyer” like if their were talking about any other regular service provider. Insane).

…On a side note, here’s an interesting question: why is it that peanut allergies, which were almost unheard of until the mid 1980′s, have suddenly become an apparent epidemic. Have peanuts mutated to become lethal as an antipredatorial defense mechanism, or have lungs actually weakened in the past generation?

[Ironically, I'm eating some Ritz Crackers with Honey-Roast Crunchy Skippy right now. Yum!]

Everything else — from apples to zucchinis — are not “over-the-counter substances”, they are “off the shelf” (or rather “on the shelf”) items, or, as we usually call them, groceries.

But how is that relevant?

Now I’m going to say uncomfortable things. People with special cases and special needs should be looking out for their own special cases and special needs. Are you wildly allergic to something? Do your best to avoid it in life. You can’t expect everyone to change their lives to accommodate your situation. The people close to you? Sure. Random strangers? Even if they occasionally share a space with you? Sorry, you’re really not that special. Your rights do not supersede the rights of the larger group.

Life is a crap shoot, something is going to kill you. Maybe it’s a tiger, maybe it’s a peanut, maybe it’s your blood pressure. In any case, Darwin was right.