Food allergy bullying can be anything from verbal teasing or exclusion from group activities to even more dangerous situations where an allergic individual is purposely exposed to their food allergen or threats are made to do so.
While teasing, exclusion, and empty threats result in a lower quality of life, actual pranks involving exposure to potential allergens can be dangerous, even fatal.
A recent study indicates that when parents are involved with teachers and school administrators in educating about the potential and serious risks of food allergy bullying, those educators are empowered to foster an anti-bullying culture around the child with food allergies.
Often times when people (especially kids) initiate these types of pranks or threats, they don’t realize the potentially fatal results their bullying can cause. Simply bringing to other’s attention the seriousness of the allergy can make quite a difference in the individual’s likelihood to be bullied because of their food allergies.
Thus, the need exists for better education about food allergies and anaphylaxis in general. One person actively working to educate and spread awareness among children is Kyle Dine. Together with his puppets, Epi-Man and Epi-Man, Jr. Kyle writes and sings songs in school assemblies and at other community events across the U.S. and Canada that create awareness, engender sympathy, and promote a strong anti-bullying message in a way that is fun and memorable for kids.
What are you doing to help educate?
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