Page 86 - The Ultimate Guidebook for Teens with Food Allergies

Another reason is that the bully is simply looking for something about you to pick on. And allergies are an easy choice because they make you different. In minor cases, this may come as a comment like: “Oh, you can't have that... you’re allergic. Too bad. It tastes REALLY good.” This sort of bullying may come from their jealousy or their desire to put you down in order to boost themselves up.
The other main reason is that the bully may be curious or just not fully understand what allergies are. They may not know what it’s like to deal with them or how serious they are. In this case, the bully may ask questions or make statements that seem stupid and sometimes a bit malicious, such as: “What would happen if I held a peanut near your face?” In this sort of situation, it is often helpful to explain to them how serious your allergies are and what can happen if you eat something you are allergic to. Don’t be afraid to be firm with your explanations to make sure that they realize that your allergies are not a joke. In these situations, using humour can also go a long way as long as you make sure they are actually aware that your allergies are serious, and how ridiculous questions like these are.
When things go right
Graduation Party Invite, by Chelsea
When I was in elementary school, my mom had always gone into my class before school started and made sure my teacher understood my allergy. I always carried my auto-injector on me and all of my friends knew about my allergy. In grade 6, a group of my peers were going to have a graduation party before we moved on to grade 7—which was in a high school. I had been close with these people throughout elementary school and I thought they were my friends. I found out that I was not invited to the party. It hurt my feelings and made me feel really bad because I didn’t know why my lifelong friends wouldn’t invite me to a party. One of the girls that was invited came up to me and told me I wasn’t invited because of my allergy and because no one wanted to deal with it. I then felt even worse. I wasn’t being invited because of something that I couldn’t control. I told my mom about it when I got home from school and she was very angry. Being chair of the parent committee, she talked to the parents about the girl having the party and told them about the situation. They felt bad because we all should be celebrating the event together. The next day, invitations went out to all the students in the grade. We then got to celebrate our graduation together.
Quick Tip - Remember to express your feelings from the start. If you condone it when someone says something that makes you uncomfortable, what’s to stop them from saying it again? Say how you feel or seek help in these situations.
When things go wrong