To the expanding number of local public school bans -- including those on R-rated movies and the game of tag -- you can now add peanuts. This increasingly popular measure seeks to protect the 1 in 100 children (roughly) who suffer from a life-threatening allergy to the legumes. Perhaps you know a kid who's had to forfeit his/her PB and J sandwiches because they share a cafeteria with a Peanut Allergy Kid.

But children aren't the ones groaning over this precaution, I find, so much as old fogies. These are the type who throw down their newspapers, saying, "Schools are banning peanuts now? What is this wimpy world coming to? I used to chew the lead paint off my crib when I was little, and I turned out fine," etc, etc. They see the bans as evidence that this generation of children is ridiculously overprotected. While I have my agreements with their overall viewpoint, catering to kids with life-threatening allergies is more justified than some people realize. The times, simply put, have a-changed.

In the past five years, the number of children with peanut allergies has doubled. We're not sure exactly why this is, but the Bunning Food Allergy Foundation is looking into it.

Food allergies are unlike the seasonal, hay fever type in several ways. First, they're far more likely to be life-threatening; if you're familiar with a peanut allergy sufferer, then you know that s/he can barely even think the word "peanut" without bursting into hives... well, practically. You may have heard stories of a teenager who died of a severe allergic reaction after kissing her boyfriend, who had just eaten a snack containing peanuts - and they're true (in Canada, November 2005).

The second distinction is that food allergy sufferers don't seem to build up a tolerance with repeated exposure (like one does with seasonal or animal allergies) and sometimes have to wait to outgrow the condition. Stranger yet, allergies to peanuts, glutin, milk, etc. seem to be brought on by an overexposure to the products at an early age. One theory about peanut allergies, for one, is that pregnant women who consume an excess of peanut products are more likely to give birth to a Peanut Allergy Kid, but even that's unconfirmed. Bottom line, we really don't understand food allergies and are staying on the safe side until we do.

I sympathize with these kids, mostly because I'm no stranger to life-threatening allergies, myself. As a tyke, I was allergic to eggs, chicken, and feathers, achieving a rare sort of vertical conglomerate of allergies. I was also extremely reactive to pollen, trees, weeds, grasses, and mold, which some people call being allergic to air. Because of an especially wicked allergy episode during recess, I was the second kid ever to be rushed from King Elementary in an ambulance, which is a story that always scored points with the ladies, believe you me.

Despite the nerdiness of this ailment, I never got nailed by bullies. Number one, this was back in 5th grade, so people still thought I was funny. Number two, I was that kid at my school who couldn't go outside for recess, so even enemies sort of felt bad for me. All in all, the other kids seemed to get it. Granted, I wasn't depriving them of Nutter Butters, but I doubt that would have made much difference.

Do Peanut Allergy Kids inconvenience the rest of us? I never said they didn't. My little cousin is one of them. The rest of my family soldiers on, God knows how. Years ago, she and her parents were to meet us for lunch at the Texas Roadhouse - back when its floors were carpeted with peanut shells - but my folks and I realized the problem, thankfully, before my cousin could arrive at the restaurant to die. Then we had to go eat at Chili's instead, so yeah, thanks a lot, Sydney.