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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 think the first way to solve the problem is to have a face to face parent conference with the child at the meeting as well. It would be helpful to have a compare/contrast diagram of hygiene beliefs from Eastern Europe versus the hygiene beliefs in America and discuss how the child is being effected in the classroom. If the parents care about their child, they will have the child start showering on a daily basis. There is also a human growth and development video that many elementary schools show to students about hygiene as well. The local WellStar hospitals also have a program where people come out to talk to classes and give goody bags to kids that contain deodorant, etc.