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 certainly is a touchy topic. First and foremost I would address the issue of teasing. You are the adult in charge of this group of students and it is your responsibility to ensure the safety of every child. Teasing shouldn't be allowed or tolerated under any circumstances. I wouldn't, however, address the teasing by naming names as this would only embarrass the new student further. With this immediate step taken, I would then suggest calling the new student's parents to set up a face to face conference. In the conference I would use the book ends method to broach the subject: positive, tough topic, positive. After this, a mini-lesson about personal hygiene, perhaps even incorporating a hygiene journal that involves the parents of each student, would be my next step.