"keeping kids indoors hermetically sealed away from real dirt makes them sick. "

[Manifestor_of_Light]

23. I grew up in a filthy unairconditioned house.

Dirt, mold, pollen, cockroaches, dust, dog hair, cat hair, air pollution from stinkin' refineries, parents who smoked.

We had an attic fan that was like a convection oven. It just spread the heat around and made it worse.
It was horrible. I could not sleep at night because the temp was still 90 degrees and 100% humidity.

I finally got a window unit AC in my room in high school. Blew on my feet in bed. Central air and carpet were things that rich people had.

Air Conditioning is a necessity in the South. The air does not cool off at night because it's humid and there is no evaporative cooling.

I had a runny nose all the way through school. Nobody noticed except the kids that yelled at me for blowing my nose in class all the time. Eventually i got tested for allergies, somewhere back in high school (1970s).

The result? I have lots of food allergies, mold allergies, animal hair allergies, dust mite allergies, pollen allergies, allergic asthma, and have to use topical decongestants so I can breathe. I also have scar tissue in my lungs from my parents' smoking and my inhaling second hand smoke. I have not once smoked a cigarette in my life.

So the theory that if you are exposed to plenty of dirt and allergens will build up your immune system, is bullshit. My family has autoimmune disorders, usually RA or hypothyroidism.

I had all these horrible allergic symptoms like a constant runny nose and frequent sinus infections BEFORE I acquired Hashimoto's thyroiditis, which is the most common cause of hypothyroidism in the United States.