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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!)
As a kindergarten teacher, we do promote healthy strategies as a unit in our curriculum. We speak about brushing our teeth, taking care of our body, and healthy foods to eat. This is just a good lesson for all children to have. In this certain situation I would send the child to the counselors office. Our counselor at our school really has different strategies for learning a more in depth knowledge of situations without coming straight out to ask: Do you take showers at home? She would have the child draw pictures or play games regarding what their routines are at home. As a class we promote a "family" like environment. I understand this is from a young age group that I work with, but kids can be cruel to others and we want all of our students to come to school without fear and anxiety.