Diabetes, Students, and Low Blood Sugars

Diabetes, Students, and Low Blood Sugars

DIABETES, STUDENTS, AND
LOW BLOOD SUGARS

Several issues ago we
told VOICE readers of an incident in which a young diabetic student, ready to
take a glucose tablet, was asked "for a taste," by another student.
A tablet was shared, a school official observed, and the kid was charged with
drug-dealing, and suspended from school. A nasty letter was placed in his permanent
file. As of May 14, 1998, the boy's parents, his doctor, their attorney, the
American Diabetes Association, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the
maker of the tablets, Can-Am Care Corporation, had not yet been able to change
the school's misguided policies, or have the document removed.
You know better. You know insulin is
not heroin, and glucose tabs are not rock cocaine--but too often the school
doesn't! Terrified of the creeping invasion of truly dangerous drugs into the
classroom, teachers and school administrators, many tragically ill-informed,
will pounce on whatever looks to them like "substance abuse." Mistakes
will be made. What should you do, so you, or your child, will not get into such
a mess?
First, make sure someone at the top
knows. If you have a diabetic child, the principal, the school nurse, and the
teachers should be informed. Tell them what your child needs to do, to avoid
the risks of hypoglycemia. Tell them about glucose tablets; how they are a food
supplement, no more sinister than a cookie or a milkshake (they're SUGAR!) and
vital to an active diabetic, child or adult. Show them this article, and a bottle
or package of glucose tablets. Invite them to read the label! These adults are
part of your child's environment; they need diabetes education too! There may
have been a time when such revelation ("My child is a diabetic") risked
discrimination, but under the Americans with Disabilities act, that is now illegal.
If the authorities already know what your child must consume or inject, any
notice by concerned others should be shrugged off. Also, your child should have
medical ID, clearly showing that he or she is diabetic, and subject to low blood
sugar reactions.
"Glucose is food," says Julie
Arel, Marketing Manager at Can-Am Care. "That is what it is classified
as, a food [supplement]--not a drug. We make and sell our Dex-4 glucose tablets,
fast-acting carbohydrates, so people with diabetes can use them for low blood
sugar episodes, but athletes use them for energy... like a lot of sweets, or
even Gatorade. We put the carbohydrate into a convenient tablet for people with
diabetes..."
You might also caution your child that
glucose tabs, like medicine-taking, are "private business." There's
no stigma; you just don't do some things in plain sight. A child for whom tabs,
pills, and needles are everyday events may not understand that others may see
these tools differently. Recognize that most children want to "fit in,"
to feel "normal," and counsel your child that his/her glucose tabs
are for his/her own needs, not for sharing, regardless how harmless they may
be.
Talk to your school. Be prepared to
explain and educate. Do it before confusion happens. You, and the school, might
find the American Diabetes Association's information pamphlet "Children
With Diabetes: Information for Teachers and Child Care Providers" helpful
(obtain this publication by calling 1-800-342- 2383). With a modicum of preparation,
you should be able to keep this diabetes complication at bay.