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Students with allergies bullied

Kids with food allergies are at risk of severe allergic reactions at school that could cause death. But that’s not the only thing they have to deal with each day. According to research, they’re also twice as likely to be bullied in school, compared to kids that don’t have food allergies.
We spoke with two families that have dealt with allergy-related bullying.
17-year old Erika Dacunha has a very specific diet: “I’m allergic to all nuts, all fish, all legumes, spinach, banana, kiwi.”
Erika’s family learned quickly what foods they could and couldn’t have in their house. Controlling what Erika was exposed to at school, however, was a tougher task.
Pamela Dacunha is Erika’s mother: “Trusting them not to eat anything that wasn’t sent from home – that was kind of scary.”
Asking your kid not to eat a certain food because it could kill them is one thing. Asking other kids to do the same thing when they’re not allergic is when things could get a little testy and could leave your kids susceptible to bullying.
The bullying started in grade three for Erika when she and her mother requested that students no longer bring certain foods to school.
Erika: “And a lot of the parents didn’t really like that and they formed a meeting to get me kicked out.”
The parents eventually backed off, but the bullies didn’t.
Erika: “Put my books away in my desk and I found nuts in my desk. I immediately left the classroom. But when everyone was cleaning up, they found that they were hidden in the corners, under the rug and in the pencil holders and containers like that.”
Lynne Glover of Hamilton is no stranger to bullying. Earlier this year, she requested that students not bring egg and milk products to school due to her 6-year old daughter’s severe allergies: “One girl in her classroom said, ‘I have pizza and it has cheese on it, it’s in my lunch bag and it’s going to make you sick’.”
Both families learned that the best way to prevent bullying is education.
“Erika would stand in front of the class and answer questions, because kids have questions. Once they are educated, it really helps and it really helps people understand that it’s not just a stomach ache — it can kill you.”
Lynne: “We can’t teach our kids empathy and compassion that needs to be modeled. And when that starts at school, in the classroom, then there’s more compassion, empathy and tolerance towards allergies.”
Erica also has an allergy awareness Facebook page. Not only does it have tips on how to deal with those restrictions, it’s also a place for kids who are being bullied because of their food allergies can go to vent.
Research indicates that about 300,000 Canadian kids are suffering with food allergies and about a third of those students are subject to bullying.