I remember the candy bar ordeal when I was a kid. Even as a child I could see how irrational this was. Wasn't there also a letter writing campaign to the manufactures to get them to remove blood from the candy bars?
For me no at school freinds I could also tell the other kid parents felt for me. As they would make special efforts to include me, they would even call my parents to ask if I could attend after school functions, Hayrides, Scouts, Ball games, and partys. My school was small 1-12 had only 300 pupils.