St. Louis schools adopting no-peanut plan

ST. LOUIS, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Schools across St. Louis have capitulated to a growing national trend toward banning peanuts from school grounds as a safety precaution.

With area schools such as Rock Creek Elementary School instituting a strict no-peanut policy, education officials are attempting to make schools safer for children with peanut allergies, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Sunday.

"It sounds goofy, but to these kids a peanut butter sandwich is like a loaded gun," Rock Creek Principal Deanne McCullough said. "Their lives are already impacted so much. At school, they can at least have that part of their life be normal."

A 2006 report from the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network said fewer than 1 percent of all school-age children are allergic to peanuts.

But with parents and school officials unable to create an effective-yet-non-restrictive policy regarding the simple food, many U.S. schools have begun banning peanuts altogether. A study involving 1,200 nationwide school districts found 18 percent had banned the nuts to ensure students' safety, the newspaper said.