Fishy smelling student sprayed down by teacher

Have you never been on a city bus in the summer?Everyone can tolerate a bad smell in order to be nice ,,,,,some choose not 2

Sounds to me like the kids were making fun of him for his fishy smell and the teacher was trying to help. Of course without hearing the teacher's side of the story we can't know for sure. I doubt it was the teacher's intent to humiliate him. I'm not saying that it was the right thing to do, I think there were better ways to handle the situation, but at least the teacher didn't spray him with febreeze in front of the class.

I don't think he should've been eating something so pungent for lunch at school, or maybe his mother should've packed a breath mint with him or something. I know for me, strong fish oders make me nauseous to the point I want to puke. I respect the mother for sticking up for her son, but she should be found partially culpable for making him a target for bullying by giving him a food that would make him stink. Again like the article said, the kids were teasing him because he stank, and the teacher tried to do something about the smell. Maybe it wasn't the best idea, but I really do think the teacher was trying to stop the bullying, not be a part of it.

I think the mother is overreacting to demand the teacher be fired over this. That seems a little harsh. And to call the teacher at home? No, if you want an apology, no matter how justified, call the school, arrange a parent/teacher meeting and discuss the situation like adults, don't bother them at home! If I had a customer from my work call me at home only to scream at me for a mistake I made at work, I'd probably hang up too. Save it for business hours.

If the child was being teased for smelling like fish, then the teacher could have helped hte child out, if he wished.... wash hands, brush teeth, gum etc. The teacher made an error in judgement, but I am surprised the mother went to the media, it tells me of the character of the mother.... that is only making things worse, wise up lady.

For those with smelly lunchrooms at work.....the microwave is the culprite. Fish needs to be wrapped at reheated in the oven to avoid contaminating the air. Try living in an apartment builing in the big city......it's a lot worse in the hallway!!

All I can say is that the universal truth is that eating fish (white meat) is a better diet than eating red meat. Kids can be mean, but it is up to us adults to teach them that we have to accept everyone for whom they are. The teacher may have been trying to calm the other students down by taking unwarranted action. He/She should apologize and be retrained in the matter.

Personally I think I would rather put up with the fish smell then body odour. I work in a public place and I am soooooooooo tired of people coming in smelling like they haven't bathed in months or decades. It is so bad that my eyes water and I wish that I had some purfume or fabreeze to spray on these people. I say let the kid eat his lunch it was most likely the most heathiest thing in the classroom that day and the odour will go away in a little while.
Do I think the teacher should have singled out the child no should she have sprayed the child definately not. But seeing that she had a bottle of fabreeze in the classroom already sounds like she uses it sometimes. The polite thing to do would have been let the kid finish eating his lunch and sent all the students outside a little early to play outside assuming that they do go outside after lunch and then sprayed the room.

Hmmm.. she feels her son has been embarased ... she tells the "CBC".... methinks mom for the sake of her own publicity just embarased her son in front of all of Canada

fish is good for you why should a student be centerd out because of it. and we wonder why our kids would rather eat junk

Was'nt the smartest thing for the teacher to do, nor was it for the mother. How about a little common sense from the two of you. The teacher should have told the child to go wash his hands and rinse his mouth, and talk to the kids about the inapproprateness of their behaviour And Mom, save your child from the embarrasment and have the fish for supper next time. By the way..I HATE fish and cannot stand the smell of it

my question is why did the teacher have the airfresher in class was she expecting something like this

This story is a joke. The kid had a lunch that smelled bad. The other kids were making fun of him because of the smell (kids do this - there kids after all). Maybe the teacher decided to try to get rid of the odour (help the kid), by spraying some frebreze on the kid to stop the other kids from picking on him. The mother of this kid appears to be a little crazy. There's always two sides to a story but I believe the teacher was only trying to help.

Teacher should have called the parent at lunch and asked mom to bring over a clean T-shirt. In kindergarten my son broke his arm at recess and was put in the corner for the rest of the morning because he wouldn't calm down. He needed surgery that day to reset his arm(break was close to artery). I tried to get the teacher fired but fought a losing battle with the Catholic School Board. She claimed he was an emotional 4 year old and couldn't tell his arm was broken...it was swollen to football size. She has no chance getting this teacher fired.

Teachers are professionals. They should think before they speak. She was not professional. She should have met the student in the hall outside the classroom and discussed the problem, then taken whatever action was necessary. All she managed to do was embarass the child even more. Teachers aren't there to embarass students - they're there to teach them. She taught that student a lesson that wasn't deserved.

Just think,if the teacher would have had the courage to apologize when she was on the phone this all would have turned out differently.Same with the principal.People need to learn how to say "I'm sorry",and when to say it.

my co workers have the stinkiest lunches and i can smell it in the office for hours, in the air, on their breath, on their clothes, i don;t point it out and i certainly don;t go around febreeze-ing everyone..I think what she did was wrong to humiliate this child in this manner! it is shameful! She should apologize to the student for sure!

The issue happened in the school. A place where the children are supposed to be loved and taught everything that are good to become a better person. And here is a teacher, supposedly the one who should teach the children how to behave properly in all situations and be an example of what she is supposed to teach, was the one herself sprayed the child with air refreshener! Was she doing it for the sake of all the kids there or she just could'nt stand the said smell. A noble act if it was for other kids sake. Who knows some kids might get sick there because of the smell...next to impossible or might be probable, in fairness!!! But if it was because she does not like the smell, she displayed on her act that she has a very narrow mind. She is not worthy to become a teacher. A good teacher should always have in mind the welfare of his/her pupils. She should have thought that the child would become a laughing stock of his classmates, not because the child smells fish, but because she put the child on the spot in an embarrasing situation. Teachers serve as parents in the school and as parents, teachers should behave properly, diplomatically, wisefully worthy to be emulated. And one more thing, what if the child, especially on contact with the skin, is allergic to air refreshener and get sick? What the teacher did would be considered a reckless act resulting to physical injury. It could be a case in court.

The school and teacher have both offered an apology for this unprofessional act and the teacher is now off (with pay?) pending an investigation. Yahoo should update this so as not to spin the school and board in a negative light as it seems they have done in this short article

I'm curious to know how this incident went down. He may have been very upset and she may have asked him if he wanted her to spray him in an effort to help him after seeing him be teased by his peers.

On the other hand she may have walked up to him and just sprayed him without asking or told him he must let her spray him to be allowed to join the class. Who is right and who is wrong in this situation depends entirely on the particulars of the incident.

Personally, I do feel bad for the kid and the mom..But, I don't think that what the teacher did was that bad..She just sprayed his clothes..Isn't that what Febreeze is for?lol However, some type of conflict resolution at circle time or a lesson on tolerence would have been really good.And, if I was that teacher, I would have definately found another way to spray him, so that the other kids wouldn't see or know. So, that he wouldn't be made fun of, anymore.

I think a call home and/or a change of clothes would have been the best choice. However, what's disturbing about the article is its first claim that it was an air freshner and then changes that to Febreze - 2 VERY different things. Air freshners are not meant for clothing but FEBREZE does make something specifically for clothing. Another alternative would be to give the kid a clean, school jersey to wear and to spray the smelly shirt when it is off the child's body - much less invasive. When a really strong odour saturates a large class of 10 year olds (these are not adults remember) the class can become very disruptive and uncontrollable. Handling the situation and the child first to get the odour out of the room is the correct first thing to do. By the mother's reaction and the students' incessant teasing toward this child suggests this student has been targeted with bullying before.