Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Boy, don't you ever shower? It is obvious from the first day of class that one of the students has bad body odor. By the end of the third week, you start to realize that the student as Steve. The other students in the class are going to greater and greater lengths to avoid sitting next to him. They mime choking when he sits in the seat in front of them. Any reference to odor or smell in the classroom is met with snickering. Finally, one day after Steve comes in late and sits next to a student in the front row, he turns to Steve and says, "Boy, don't you ever shower?" The class breaks up in hysterics. When should I have intervened? How?, What should I say to student? What should I say to others? Should I confront the class with Steve present? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) I think that talking to the student directly is a good idea. But, I would bring the student down to the nurse's office to do so. I would then ask the nurse to come with us and sit in a comfy area (bean bag chairs in the library, outside on the grass, etc....somewhere where the student can feel relaxed and like he is not being attacked). I would then proceed to discuss the issue with the student with the help of the school nurse. It is possible the nurse can offer the student some personal hygeine products the school has available, letting him choose what he wants, so that he feels like this is not something that he should feel upset about.