I have a girl in one of my classes, and her BO is quite overwhelming. Especially with this hot weather, and the fact that the AC in my room doesn't work real well, it makes it hard to breathe. A few kids moved their desks back away from her today--I didn't say anything to them because I didn't want to draw attention to it. I feel bad for her, but I'm not sure what to do. I just opened some windows today, but it didn't help much. Would spraying some Febreeze be over the top? I'm not entirely comfortable talking to this girl about it, but it can be a bit unbearable...what would you do?
I always ask our counselor to speak with her, but I am elementary. The nurse, as, Caesar suggested, would be a good alternative. Even in HS, I don't think the counselor is a terrible idea.
My aunt is an English teacher and she always kept those little travel deodorants in her classroom and she gave them out all the time. I know I wouldn't be comfortable doing that, but maybe you are?
Tell the nurse. Hopefully, it can improve. I have had a student who had numerous convos with the nurse and things never got better. It wasn't a situation of no water at home (we have had that and the student gladly used school provided hygiene products and showered at school early in the morning). This particular kid just didn't give a hoot.
I teach 4th grade, so my kids on a different level. Talk of body issues is still funny to them. I keep deodorant in my room and tell them that the rule is no smelly pits in my room. They get a kick out of using it, and it keeps the smell down. If it's more than just a sweaty kid I will either have the nurse talk to them, or if it's a kid that I've really connected with, I'll talk to them. At my old school we had a student that had to shower at school every day. They didn't have running water at his house. Last year we shared a student who wore the same clothes every day for a couple of weeks. We reached the point that we brought extra clothes for him (from the local church's uniform "store"). He wore them for the day while we washed the dirty clothes in the cafeteria's washer.
First. Counselors. If they say, "We've tried" then School Psychologist. This could easily be a symptom. Remember teen years are a prime time to manifest mental illness and this could be the tip of the iceberg. Oh, yeah, is the student on an IEP or 504?
