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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 that the real issue here is not the student's body odor but the other students' reactions. As other comments have mentioned, the student may not have full control over his hygiene. The students do, however, have control over their responses to others. If there was a student who was being teased for being overweight or for acting effeminately, we would not even consider scheduling a conference to tell the parents that they needed to address their child's eating habits or gender orientation. While hygiene and health issues are important and should be addressed, it sounds as though the odor is not indicative of neglect, only cultural differences. Perhaps the school's counselor could help by scheduling a group discussion about cultural differences, but the issue of bullying definitely needs to be addressed.
 
     
     
  Rating
The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes
The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes
The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes
The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes
The suggested solution is original Yes
Comments: Yes, I agree that cultural differences as well as bullying need to be addressed.
Rated On: March 5, 2017 5:05 pm
Rated By: QaHyWe
 
     
     
  Rating
The suggested solution is respectful of the individual (student) Yes
The suggested solution is relevant to the case Yes
The suggested solution is reasonable (easy) for the teacher to implement Yes
The suggested solution is likely to solve the problem/issue Yes
The suggested solution is original Yes
Comments: I agree with you! A talk about cultural differences can make tremendous improvements to classroom behavior!
Rated On: October 31, 2021 8:52 pm
Rated By: dedyqa