Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         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!) This past semester I had a student in my class who you could tell did not take showers everyday; however, I think it was for financial reasons. Students in the class did not want to sit around him and would make snide remarks about him. Therefore, I would take the students making comments about him and hold them after class. I would discuss how it was rude for them to be talking about someone who they know nothing about. I explained how everyone does not live the same and people should not be judged. Talking to the students individually created a wonderful atmosphere in the classroom and I did not hear another peep out of my students. Therefore, I might advise trying that scenario first before sending a letter.