Has your child ever said, “I think I am allergic to school”? You probable chuckled a little and said ok honey what ever you say, however, there is a probability that your child is actually allergic to school. If you child continual feels ill at school, do not merely discount it as just another reason not to attend school.
Each year your child moves into a new classroom, which is a new environment, containing new irritants and allergens. As you know, new environments present allergens that cause a new set of symptoms, or at the very least familiar symptoms, like runny nose, eye irritation, headaches, sneezing and nasal congestion. Along with the common symptoms you child can become irritable, exhausted, and experience trouble concentrating.
Most common known allergens
Most common known allergens found in the school classroom are those we usually can see like:
- Chalkboard dust
- Common dust
- Dander and bedding from the classroom pet
- Pollen from open windows
As parent’s we do our best to make our home clean and allergy free for our child, but we have little control in the classroom environment. So, is there anything we can do? Of course, we need to think like investigators. Paying attention to allergen triggers and asking questions, carefully evaluating by sight and smells what could be causing our child’s allergy symptoms to react. Most importantly, always anticipate that new allergens will be present in the classroom, and teach your child to identify allergen triggers and how to avoid them. The most difficult allergen trigger to identify is cleaning chemicals in the classroom.
For example, art class, after finger painting, tables are sprayed with cleaner and the children wipe down the tables. After continual exposure to cleaning chemicals in the bathrooms, classrooms, art room and gym your child comes home feeling ill. Eyes are swollen, wheezing has started, exhaustion has set in but we cannot identify why. The everyday cleaning chemicals our children are exposed to are made of clorox, ammonia and some even contain pesticides. Here are a few tips for reducing your child’s allergy attacks in the classroom environment, for a healthy and allergy free school year.
Tips to stop classroom allergy attacks:
- Inspect the classroom and environments where you child will spend their time at school. Identify the allergy triggers that make it difficult for your child to be healthy and allergy free.
- Communicate your child’s allergy condition to the teacher(s), school nurse, principle and lunchroom aids. Be supportive offer ideas for reducing allergen triggers in the classroom
- Build your child’s immune system to fight of allergen triggers. Provide your child with a natural supplement that will support a healthy immune system.
For many decades, immune therapy has been investigated, utilized, and found to have frequent success in helping the body’s immune system fight disease. One area of immune enhancement concentrates on complex carbohydrates, specifically beta glucan. It has been found to make drastic differences in the help to fight allergies.
I am a teacher who works in a school where teachers wear perfume,and smoke and spray during break. I was even made ill because an assistant decided to sell pefumed products on her break. She heated a product in the work area microwave where I was copying papers. Now I have RADS and VCD. I am trying to make teachers aware of the need not to do these things because of their children. So far I am considered a whiner and complainer by co-workers. With the help of an accommodation plan all have been made of my increasing problem. Some spray even more. The custodians are not allowed to clean my wing until I leave-they still do.
Students (3-5 grades) are not allowed to wear perfume products because of the asthmatic students. Teachers are not told they cannot. I was told that I did not have the right to “step on” anyone else’s rights by staff members. I only asked that if anyone had perfume/cologne on that they stay away or tell me if I get near. I also asked that no perfumed items be used in the work area and bathroom to which I have been assigned. Still products have been brought into these areas. Each time I report it the more distant my co-workers become.
If I had my way no one would wear perfumed products or clean in the school (except in emergency cases) until the children leave. If I am being bothered then what about the children. I was told once children get sick all the time so parents cannot prove what is causing it. sad
Wow GeeGee, that is an amazing and sad story. I definitely know how it feels to be so alienated by your company environment! You are absolutely correct that perfumed and chemical products can be harming the children as well as yourself- and actually, there are several scientific studies that will back you up on that. How abhorrent the negative reaction you face! I would argue that your coworkers trample more on your rights by polluting your environment, more than you trample on theirs by asking them to refrain from poisoning you. Kind of like the whole secondhand smoke argument people are using to outlaw smoking in restaurants!
Not that I’m saying we should ban chemicals in schools, though it would seem logical and a bit more humane. Insead, I would encourage you to take up the challenge to introduce something better in your school – rather than focus on the negative of the products, focus on the positive of a healthy environment – or, move from “complainer” to “healer”. For example, you could research chemical-free cleaning products to use in the school, then present your findings to the principal or school board. At the very least, keep a supply of healthy cleaning products in your classroom, on display for all to see and learn from. Diffuse quality essential oils throughout your classroom for a pleasant learning environment, naturally. You could also research RADS, VCD and other variations of chemical sensitivities and post your research in a community place – the break room bulletin board or at least in your classroom. Basically, instead of treating it as YOUR problem, and dealing with resentment from other people, show how it is everyone’s problem and how simple and beneficial the solutions can be.
You are in a unique position to enlighten and help others GeeGee. Don’t get discouraged! We’re counting on you to shine some light in the musty hallways of your schools’ collective conscious.