- allergy bullying
- n.Intimidating a person, particularly a schoolmate, by threatening exposure to a food that the person is allergic to.—allergy bully n.Example Citations:When Susan's son was 7, a classmate smeared peanut butter on his arm. A harmless prank, perhaps, for many kids. But for her son it was potentially life-threatening, due to his severe peanut allergy. ...Call it allergy bullying. Whether it's an extension of garden-variety bullying or a backlash against greater restrictions on peanuts in schools, parents of children with severe allergies say their kids are increasingly facing threats of being touched or, worse, forced to eat the food they have spent their lives avoiding.—Tralee Pearce, "Bullies use peanut butter to threaten kids with allergies," The Globe and Mail, April 29, 2008Sarah VanEssendelft, a 14-year-old from Mastic, NY, described how girls trying to exclude her from their lunch table hatched a plan to bring peanut butter sandwiches to school to aggravate her allergies. ..."Education is what it's all about," says Dr. Scott Sicherer, an associate professor of pediatrics with the Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at New York's Mount Sinai School of Medicine. When a student at a particular school has a severe allergy usually it's the school nurse who's in charge of making sure that school personnel know what to do, the physician says. But "There are occasions where families are reluctant for other people to know about the allergy," Sicherer points out. "Maybe this [food allergy bullying] is part of the reason why."—Joan Oleck, "Food Allergies: Deadly Taunts," School Library Journal, April 23, 2008Earliest Citation:School bullies are taunting children who have deadly nut allergies, threatening to force-feed them food that could harm them.With rising numbers of children suffering allergies, support group Anaphylaxis Australia Inc is concerned bullies are homing in on students' disorders in a new form of harassment....South Australian Primary Principals Association president Glyn O'Brien said every school had a policy on anaphylaxis. She said any cases of allergy bullying would be 'regrettable', but believed it was rare in primary schools.—Elissa Doherty, "Support group tells of parent fears," Sunday Mail, April 8, 2007Related Words: Categories:
New words. 2013.
