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!) I would address this issue by having a face-to-face conversation with the parents first. I would express my concerns and allow them to give me insight and inform me if it was truly cultural. Next, I would have a conversation with my entire class about different cultural and how we all practice and believe different things. I would put my students into groups and allow them to do projects on different cultures point out specific point, one which would be hygiene. Lastly, I would explain to the students how it is not nice to talk badly about someone and I would make connections to the various cultures and how we all do not do everyday life things the same.