NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. — Allee Schumacher is using her platform from pageants she has won to raise awareness about allergy bullying. It’s an issue that people may not be aware of, even parents of kids with allergies.
Pageants have been a part of Schumacher’s life since she was about five years old.
“It’s been very helpful with growing self-esteem and, like, uplifting other ladies too which is very fun to do, and of course, like, the memories I’ve made and experiences I’ve had to endure with pageants and all the people I’ve met has been really nice too,” Schumacher said.
However, off the stage and in school, Schumacher faced some hardships.
“My time in elementary school, when I was little, quite little, like first through, like, third grade, there were these girls that always liked to laugh at me because I had to sit at a separate table,” Schumacher said.
She sat at a separate table because of being allergic to peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish and peas. Schumacher experienced allergy bullying from her peers because of this.
“They had, like, their peanut butter and jelly and Uncrustables and they’d try to come sit with me and act like nothing was wrong and just scoot close to me and eat their food and it was a very hard thing to deal with, being on the verge of tears because of how scared I was,” Schumacher recalled.
She even had a teacher who would not let her go to the nurse if she was worried about something she had eaten.
“I was very scared,” Schumacher said. “A lot of the time I just asked a different teacher when we were at, like, recess, being like, ‘I can’t breathe right now. Can I go to the nurse?’ and they would say, ‘Yeah.’”
One in three children say that they’ve experienced allergy bullying and most parents are unaware of it, according to a 2021 study released by the Children’s National Hospital. The research was conducted by Linda Herbert, an associate professor of psychology and behavioral health with the hospital.
“Kids might not really know what we mean when we say bullying or might not think that some of these experiences are important enough to tell us about so asking really open-ended questions of kids about their experiences at school around food, around meals in the classroom is really important,” Herbert said.
More than half of those who reported allergy bullying in the study experienced physical acts like the allergen being waved in their face, thrown at them, or even put in their food.
“All of that can be really scary for kids and can make them hesitant to even want to eat in the school cafeteria or to disclose their food allergies and we know that disclosure is really important because it takes a team to manage food allergies,” Herbert said.
Educators can help to curb this issue by setting the precedent that bullying is wrong. They also should prioritize inclusion.
“We want to think about both safety and inclusion so we focus a lot on safety, which is very appropriate,” Herbert said. “The inclusion piece is what we sometimes forget.”
She suggests that school staff members work with parents to find safe ways to have kids with allergies sit with their peers while eating. In the classroom, teachers could consider alternatives to celebrating events that don’t involve food.
Because of Schumacher’s experience and the seriousness of allergy bullying, she is working with her principal to advocate for the cause at her school.
“I want to finish creating posters that I am making to hang up around my school, which have QR codes to different websites that can bring more awareness to allergy bullying,” Schumacher said.
She is also using her platform as 2024 National American Miss Kentucky Junior Teen to educate a bigger audience on her Facebook page. Schumacher has also recently been crowned 2024 Imperial Miss Kentucky Junior Teen and 2024 Teen Miss Lincoln County Fair.