More Tales from the Classroom -- Smelly

There are 52 students in the sixth grade this year -- divided into two classes. Through the course of the school day, I see all of them for three class periods, and on three days a week, half of them have Spanish language instruction in my room.

They are all 11 and 12 years old, and many of them are the oldest child in their families. That oldest child thing is pertinent to this conversation. Let me explain...

During the 6th grade school year, puberty happens. My students will almost all make the transition from child to adolescent during this year. Even the youngest and least "mature" will be thrust forward, ready or not, as we move from month to month. It is just part of the way life goes in my world. It is one of the things that I know; one of the things I enjoy; one of the things that I anticipate; and one of the things that I work to manage and facilitate as the waves crash over my kiddos.

The first sign of the impending onslaught each year is the advent of "smelly classroom syndrome." As these young folks move into the early stages of puberty, their sweat glands begin to kick into overdrive, and they begin to exude a very distinct body odor. All at once. And, in a class where many of them are the oldest child in their families, parents are frequently caught off guard by the signs of the impending transition. Mommies and Daddies are generally not really ready for all of this when it gets going. Having one somewhat smelly pre-adolescent or tween in your house can be an occasionally odiferous experience. Having nearly 30 of them in a single room all day long is another thing altogether. Peeee-ewwww!

So, it is time. Each year, I know that I will need to address, as part of the health curriculum that I teach, the issue of personal hygiene in adolescence. Much as I have always wished that parents would just take care of this, I have come to understand that it just doesn't happen that way. So... it is time to speak of many things -- deodorant and showers and shampoo and toothpaste and changing your drawers and what to do about smelly feet. Things should be smelling better soon :-)

swan