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Case: Smelly Kid
I guess I am still considered a novice teacher because I have been teaching for four years only. I am an elementary school teacher who teaches in a mostly White suburban setting. Couple of weeks ago a new student joined my classroom. He and his parents recently moved from Eastern Europe. His father works at the local university as a music professor. I am not sure what his mother does. He is a wonderful child. Although he speaks little English, he tries to participate in class activities and to make friends with others in the classroom. Couple days after he arrived, I noticed a strange smell around him. I was sure that it was body odor. The other students in the classroom started noticing it too. They started making fun of him. I learned in my multicultural classes when I was at the university that not all cultures promote taking showers everyday, and that body odor is not considered a problem everywhere in the world. Now I have a big dilemma. If I tell my student about it, I might embarrass him. If I sent a note to his parents, I may appear disrespectful toward their culture. But the way he is treated in the classroom by the other students is becoming a real problem. What should I do?
Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!)
I don't know that I would contact the parents about this situation. My concern would be that the parents may find this disrespectful. If contacting them at all, I would approach this subject with the up most sensitivity. I would use my coworkers as a resource because I'm sure someone has had experience with this type of situation before. I would ask them how they handled the situation in the past, if they were successful, and what they may have done differently if they could. I would make it very clear to my students that making fun of any student for any reason was not acceptable and would certainly not be tolerated. I would remind the students that everyone has the right to feel safe and welcome in our classroom and their behavior should reflect this or there would be consequences. |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: I really liked that you said it may be inappropriate to contact the parents on this matter. I agree that it may be seen as very disrespectful of the teacher. |
| Rated On: February 13, 2013 10:18 pm |
| Rated By: Melissa Sapp |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: |
| Rated On: March 2, 2013 11:55 pm |
| Rated By: eruHeB |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: I think that your solution reflects that importance of remembering that the feelings of the student should be our biggest concern. If the teacher in this situation tells the student that he smells offensively, the teacher may become, in the eyes of the student, the biggest and most hurtful bully of all. Every student has some feature that could be singled out to make fun of by other students, if they chose to be cruel. The lesson that we need to teach our students is not that we all need to be perfect or the same but that we all need to be kind to one another. |
| Rated On: June 5, 2013 11:53 am |
| Rated By: Johnnie Skelton |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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| Comments: I think a lesson on health would be a great idea to implement in a lesson! |
| Rated On: July 10, 2015 2:38 am |
| Rated By: RaMevy |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
Yes
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| The suggested solution is original |
Yes
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Comments: I think you present some great ideas
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| Rated On: October 18, 2015 4:37 am |
| Rated By: Krystalynn Gulczewski |
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Rating
| The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) |
No
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| The suggested solution is relevant to the case |
No
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| The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement |
No
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| The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue |
No
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| The suggested solution is original |
No
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| Comments: I am not sure if this will help the student per say; maybe only in the area of bullying, but not hygiene. |
| Rated On: March 7, 2016 1:43 am |
| Rated By: ezyHes |
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