Engineer61

Some food allergy info .... (U.S.) As many as 15 million people have food allergies. An estimated 9 million, or 4%, of adults have food allergies. Nearly 6 million or 8% of children have food allergies with young children affected most. Boys appear to develop food allergies more than girls. Food allergies may be a trigger for or associated with other allergic conditions, such as atopic dermatitis9 and eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases. 10 Although childhood allergies to milk, egg, wheat and soy generally resolve in childhood, they appear to be resolving more slowly than in previous decades, with many children still allergic beyond age 5 years. Allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, fish, or shellfish are generally lifelong allergies. (http://www.foodallergy.org/page/facts-and-stats) Also ... It is estimated that food allergies cause approximately 150 to 200 fatalities per year, based on data from a five year study of anaphylaxis in Minnesota from the Mayo Clinic. Fatal food anaphylaxis is most often caused by peanuts (50-62%) and tree nuts (15-30%). http://www.aaaai.org/about-the-aaaai/newsroom/allergy-statistics.aspx (This message has been edited by Engineer61)

Oh...I forgot to ask...in these modern days of processes and metrics ... Define "Work"?

1) Tradition does not equal success. 2) Times change, the program should too.

LOL! Let's see ...to be effective you'd need to learn ... Metal cutting - Torch and Plasma Metal Brazing Arc Welding It would definitely be a "cool" badge. Wonder if the First Aid badge would have to be modified to cover the plasma burns. Maybe a firefighting MB for putting out metal fires.

Short asked: "This is a topic that I don't know a lot about, so I'll ask a question that's been bugging me for a while ... how does someone with these severe allergies walk into a restaurant and eat? " Actually, depending on the establishment and the allergy involved...you don't go in at all! My daughter, for example, does not eat in Chinese restaurants if they use peanut oil or have peanut dishes on the menu. I avoid the frozen yogurt places because of the number and types of fruit used. I'll go in with my family, but I won't order anything. I'm also very cautious at places that mix ice creams in front of you ... like Coldstone Creamery. I had a co-worker years ago that when we traveled, he'd hand me his Epi-pen when we went to dinner. When the food was served, he would try one bite, then wait a few minutes before continuing. If he passed out, I was to hit him with the Epi-Pen, call 911 and get the second Epi-Pen ready. He was hyper-allergic to shellfish, so any shellfish on the menu was a danger....very few restaurants that DON't have shrimp on the menu somewhere. "For the most severe, what if someone at the table next to you is eating something with [insert allergy type here]? For those situations, you have to be observant enough to know the dangers....I always loved it when the school served fruit salad at lunch...I called it Death Salad and would sit an extra seat away. "How do you control for your kid playing on the playground with another kid who just ate a PB&J sandwich and didn't wipe his hands very well?" True "contact" allergies are somewhat rare, it usually requires ingestion...however, there was a kid in my daughters school who would wipe down her place at the table in the cafeteria before eating, and the lunchroom monitor would move to where she was. One day she did pass out because she didn't clean a big enough area...she collapsed before she opened her own lunch box. =================== On a side note, there is some research in Britain that suggests that the increase in peanut aADD/ADHD may be linked to Soy intake in children. Soy-based infant formula became preferred over milk-based many years ago. I wonder if the peanut allergy is also linked.

Ask ... and ye shall received ... In addition to the picky eaters issue, how do you handle dietary restrictions like ... Vegan Severe food allergies like peanuts, berries, fish or shellfish. ==== In my household, peanut products are very restricted, since my daughter is anaphylactic. She is old enough now that she can recognize even the traces of them and can safely dispose/clean-up as needed. I have the same with all berries (except strawberries) and pitted fruits (peaches/plums/nectarines/etc). In many cases it takes only small traces to trigger an anaphylactic reaction.

Hmmm ... I wonder if food issues is why my stepson has has balked on the last three camping trips. Even as a 14 yo, he has a pretty narrow diet...better than it was a couple years ago...he'd routinely pack a bunch of Power Bars and eat those on camping trips ... and if he ran out ... he didn't eat.

My Grandfather called "The Walton's" a "#%$@ lie." He said the Walton's were rich land barons by comparison to the most of the rest of the rural population at that time.

Beav wrote: "Grades are just like Advancement, eh? They're a method, they're not da goal." That depends on your goal, now doesn't it. If you want to pump gas or dig ditches your whole life then sure... But I don't think that'll work with your college entrance interview when they look at your High School transcripts and SAT/ACT scores. With all the job applications I've ever filled out (and that's a large number) there is always a box for High School and College GPA's ... there is never a box for Boy Scouts.

I'm a little baffled by this idea that requiring school work to be completed in order to go to participate in an extracurricular is somehow "punishment" if the extracurricular is missed. This is called prioritization and it happens in our adult lives every day. It is quite common for me to have to consider dates, rearrange or even cancel weekend or longer vacations because my employer demands it. How is one different from the other?

Liberal vs. Conservatives ... eh, not like there's a big difference from the political standpoint. If a candidate (any candidate) got up and vetted his past right off the bat...he'd get my vote... I'd like to hear a candidate step up and say... I've cheated on my wife/husband/boyfriend/girlfriend. I dodged the draft. I inhaled. I've cheated on my taxes. I have friends who are lobbyists. I may have forgotten other things I did. No one has the guts to stand up and say that...

Been There Doing This ... As a hard-and-fast rule, anything that applies towards a grade in school outranks extracurricular activities 100% of the time for us. Makes no difference if it is Scouts, Baseball ... whatever. When there is a conflict, that is how the decision is made. Anything that is for a grade beats everything that is not for a grade. Scout has in fact missed camping trips because projects have been due on the Monday following. Non-Scout son has missed baseball games (even one tournament game) because homework was not completed.

You know ... I was just thinking ... in spite of comments that so many of you are happy that I'm not a parent in your troops...I really think you'd like me compared to some that you have. 1) I keep my mouth shut. 2) I only attend CoH's if my Scout is getting something...and I stand in the back away from everyone so I don't get in the way of the untreated-ADHD induced chaos that is called Scouting. 3) I don't go on campouts, hikes or advancement days. I just don't trust any of the adults farther than I can throw them...so I pay close attention to everything my Scout says. Seems like I'm the perfect Scout parent... LOL(This message has been edited by Engineer61)

"I've never had bad experiences with OA myself. But what I've read in this thread worries me a lot." Here! Here! Pi-o-neer!

"We've always done it that way ..." is the famous call of the Lemming. "We've always has some o-ring leakage ..." - Challenger "We've always had some tiles damaged ..." - Columbia "We've always flown formations towards the crowds." - Italian Air Force If the best answer someone can give is "We've always done it that way" then that is precisely the reason something should change.(This message has been edited by Engineer61)

"As for the fear of campouts, I suggest you find some evidence that abuse has happened on campouts before you assume that is an easy opportunity. Ive never heard of a scout being abused by a sexual predator on a scouting activity. It might have happened, but I would expect camping is probably a pretty safe place from predators. " A 20 minute search with Google finds a couple cases of sexual abuse on campouts. Ed Dyer, Oregon. Peter Stibal, Minnesota. Patrick Boyle points out from the Washington Times article that, "Camping trips - in many people's eyes the essence of Scouting - are the most popular places for Scout leaders to have sexual relations with boys." === EDIT === I've noticed that my SS has missed the last two camping trips, just because he wanted "down time".(This message has been edited by Engineer61)

The PSU and other recent events have caused me to think the reality is that these "people" (a term I use very loosely in this case) are everywhere, looking for opportunities to strike. Those places that give these psychos less restricted access (or worse free access) to boys will always be a target ... Church retreats, BSA campouts, private sports coaches are all targeted opportunities for these creeps. Does anyone really think that YPT will stop a predator from signing up? Will 2-deep make a difference if both adults are predators? I started reading Patrick Boyle's book, partly for the historical aspect and also under the hope that I could somehow extract some idea of what to look for to identify these monsters. I wonder of the 50 or so coaches in my baseball league, how many are predators? I really wish someone had an answer to this ...

Beav wrote : "In da case of the Arizona statute, the part yeh left out matters a lot, eh? It reads "For the purposes of this subsection, "person" means 1. Any physician, physician's assistant, optometrist, dentist, osteopath, chiropractor, podiatrist, behavioral health professional, nurse, psychologist, counselor or social worker who develops the reasonable belief in the course of treating a patient; 2. Any peace officer, member of the clergy, priest or christian science practitioner; 3. The parent, stepparent or guardian of the minor; 4. School personnel or domestic violence victim advocate who develop the reasonable belief in the course of their employment." (ARS 13-3620A)" Looks like you needed to scroll one more line eh Beav? I guess you missed #5 ... 5. Any other person who has responsibility for the care or treatment of the minor.

Eagledad asked: "Eng61, what percent of the scout abuse cases occurred on Scout campouts or outtings? Dunno ... but I'll bet BSA national can tell you.

"Most of the time I just lurk and read this forum. I would like to say thank you to the powers that be that Engineer61 is not a parent in our Troop! " I'm willing to bet that every troop has a parent exactly like me in it. I don't trust the adult leaders but I keep quiet ... I don't want these bozos taking out on my kid. I learned my "place" at the first meeting I went to ... some white haired pontificating windbag turned and walked away from me the moment I said that I'd never been a Scout. Guess I'm not worth the time of day if I don't know the proverbial secret handshake.

"I know that when my sons played sports there was no 2 deep requirement. No other school age activity I know of requires Youth Protection training or 2 deep leadership. I would say that all 11-18 yr olds are in more danager from all other activities besides scouts as a result. " I know that with every baseball team I've coached over the past 13 years ... I have at LEAST 3 deep adults on the field and about 6 parents at every practice/game ... each which is a public park and lasts only 2 hours at most.

Based on what I see that the functions I attend, I'd say that a large % have some sort of ADD/ADHD involved...including my SS. It was a much higher % in Cubs. On the comment of Troop expecting parents to have deep pocket ... yep, mine does. Very minimal fundraising ...

On the idea of parents relegated to the sidelines ... and the blasting that I took for it on this thread ... I'd suggest you all read chaoman45's post at the end of "The grass is greener..." thread. OGE's reply was nice too.

OGE ... That's OK dude ... BTDT on the relegation ... but thanks for the honesty.

When my SS crossed over, I think there were 10 in the group. Only 5 crossed over. - Some wanted to do middle school and outside sports - A couple of parents were in the "Whew, that's finally over!" crowd - I think at least one had religious issues.