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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!) It would be best to have the parents come in for a parent-teacher conference with a guidance counselor present. I would be sure to tell the parents all of the great things about the student and would also tell them I called them in because the student is being picked on and why. It can be a delicate situation and there is a real chance of offending the parents, so it should be worded as carefully as possible. It's possible it's not even a body odor problem, but just something being used that smells strangely. I was at a conference once on a college campus and noticed all the students had a strange smell which I thought was body odor. That night I went to shower and noticed that the bathrooms had body soap provided in a dispenser and when I smelled it the soap had the smell of the students. I would also tell he students when they are making fun of him that they are being rude and should not tease any body for any reason. |
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