The immune system is how the body defends itself against foreign substances and infections. Some individuals experience sensitivities, called allergies, within their immune systems that are caused by ordinarily harmless materials like foods, medicines, or environmental factors (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease). Food-related allergies continue to grow as a public health issue, as 6% of Canadians under the age of 18 are affected, with peanuts as the leading cause. This lead worried parents to lobby a ban of nuts to the Ministry of Education to ensure the safety and health of their children in school, but this ban is not in the best interests of the general public. It is unrealistic and does not benefit the greatest number of people like the law should, according to philosopher Jeremy Bentham. The ban would cause undue hardship onto schools on the grounds of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that states that accommodations to the right to equality must be made. The law is also far too drastic, and should embrace the Utilitarian views of John Stuart Mill that urge for a compromise instead in order to achieve happiness on both ends. Peanut free lunches should not be made mandatory by the Ministry of Education for all schools in Ontario through the Education Act of Ontario. Those in support of the
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The ban would require extensive monitoring of students’ lunches from the staff, cause cafeterias to change their meal plans and completely eradicate any food containing nuts or have ever been in contact with nuts, and would force parents to purchase and make other items that don’t contain peanuts, as well as vigilantly guarding that food to ensure it hasn’t been around nuts. It would be an undue hardship on all parties involved to ban nuts entirely from schools, but schools do have an obligation to protect these allergic children, as clearly stated in the Charter, but it should be done in a reasonable way that does not impose on
The ban would require extensive monitoring of students’ lunches from the staff, cause cafeterias to change their meal plans and completely eradicate any food containing nuts or have ever been in contact with nuts, and would force parents to purchase and make other items that don’t contain peanuts, as well as vigilantly guarding that food to ensure it hasn’t been around nuts. It would be an undue hardship on all parties involved to ban nuts entirely from schools, but schools do have an obligation to protect these allergic children, as clearly stated in the Charter, but it should be done in a reasonable way that does not impose on