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!) Ironically I had a similar problem in my class with an immigrant German student two years ago. The students in my class were not blatantly disrespectful to the student directly; but, they did make "sly comments" that were equally rude in my opinion. It is hard to determine whether such cases are neglect or culturally influenced; and perhaps, it is not your call to make such a determination. If the situation is in fact a legitimate concern, I would first either speak with the student privately, or turn the case over to the school Counselor or school Social Worker. In my opinion, matters such as these are for employers with the appropriate background and specialties to handle.