Teacher Made Boy With B.O. Spray Lysol On Himself - Parents Suing

[matcom]

<snip>

ELYRIA, Ohio -- A school district was sued by parents who say their son's fourth-grade teacher made the boy spray himself with Lysol in front of classmates because of body odor.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in against the Sheffield-Sheffield Lake district in suburban Cleveland. It asks for $50,000 in damages for public humiliation and subsequent harassment by classmates.

The boy still suffers emotional distress over the incident, according to his attorney, Michael Duff.

Bill Emery, school board president, said he was unfamiliar with the March 2003 incident at Forestlawn School and said he knew of no disciplinary problems involving the teacher.

The teacher, David Stacko, who has retired, has an unlisted phone number and could not be reached for comment Thursday.

http://www.wftv.com/education/4207999/detail.html

[StopTheMorans]

1. my boss just did this to me at work last week

:cry:

[Lavender Brown]

26. I didn't want to mention it...

but we can always tell when you've entered the lounge, because of the smell. x(

[StopTheMorans]

36. thanks for telling me before this

:cry:

[bleedingheart]

2. a lifetime of teaching can drive some poor folks crazy....

I recall one history teacher in High School...we were discussing something in class and I asked a question that he didn't know the answer to...after class he berated me and told me that I was trying to make him look bad.... I was a bit taken aback...but I ignored it...three weeks later he died of a heart attack while playing racquetball...apparently he had some severe stress issues....

[Blue-Jay]

3. Did the kid want to be called "Frankenstein"?

[Fleshdancer]

4. why not just call the parents and send the kid home?

I don't know if it's worth $50,000 in damages, but damn, what humiliating thing to do to someone. Poor kid.

[SoCalDem]

5. One time we "Secret Santa-ed" a smelly coworker

we sent him a nice basket with "personal care" products.. smelly foot stuff, deodorants, soaps, mouthwash etc..

the guy stunk so bad it was hard to tell just which "part" was the offender :)

[Zuni]

11. If his hygiene was that bad

I am sure the stink was a general funk, not a localized odor like bad breath or armpit sweat

[Placebo]

6. Where were the parents???

Maybe the parents shouldn't have let their son out of the house smelling like a horse's arse.

[Carson]

7. Exactly.

The teacher, if guilty, handled the incident badly, but blame should also be placed on the parents.

My job has me dealing with the public daily and I see children that are utterly filthy. Face, hands, hair and clothing covered in God knows what. It never fails to make me angry...at the parents.

I grew up poor but my parents always made sure my hand-me-down clothes were clean and that I bathed.

[Bunny]

8. But you don't humiliate the child because the parents are fools.

If that teacher did that to my kid, I'd have his fucking head on a fucking platter! :grr:

[Carson]

12. Of course not. I said the teacher handled the incident badly.

But the parents should share in the blame for putting their child in the predicament in the first place.

[Zuni]

18. I agree

the aprents were neglecting their duty to properly care for the hygiene of their child.

kids get sick a lot because they don't wash enough---

[Bunny]

19. Yeah, the parents are idiots too.

It's a shame what people do to kids.

[CornField]

10. Ah yes, the last great scapegoat for everything -- the parents

[Carson]

15. If a young child has filthy, smelly clothes and doesn't seem to have taken

a bath in the recent past, who should one blame?

Again, although my family was poor, we always managed to stay clean. My mother insisted upon it.

[CornField]

23. We aren't talking about a 2- or 3-year-old here

The article says 4th grade teacher... so the boy was 9 or 10 years old.

We have absolutely no idea of the circumstances of what was going on in the home. Yet, you (and a few others) are willing to make a judgement based on what has been presented in the news article. The boy had an offensive odor -- for how long? Did he have a medical condition? Had there recently been a crisis in the family? Did the odor come from a particular body part?

For all we know at this point, there very well could have been a reason (other than lazy parenting) for why this child had an odor. Even if the child had an odor due to lack of washing, there still might be circumstances of which we are not aware. (Was the family homeless? Was their water turned off? Did the plumbing malfunction or did the pipes freeze? Were the parents distracted by larger crisis?)

But, it couldn't be any of those scenarios... obviously this was just a case of lazy parents who wanted their 10-year-old son to be ridiculed at school for being stinky. :eyes:

[sybylla]

25. Yeah, and maybe he merely lived on a farm

There were plenty of kids when I was in school who got on the bus in the morning smelling to varying degrees like a barn. Many times, they couldn't help it. Either they were poor and didn't have the extra clean clothes to change into every day after morning chores or the odor had permeated the house to the point that they could never shake the smell completely or it was possible that mom hung the laundry out to dry on a day when dad was spreading manure on a field next door. Shit happens.

There are many reason a kid will arrive at school bearing an unpleasant odor. A fourth grader can do little about the situation at home, whether it's due to lifestyle, poverty, or neglect. Shaming them in front of the class won't change that. Talking to the boy may help. Speaking with his parents as a concerned teacher would be best. Asking Social Services to check in on him if all else fails is a last resort.

I am appalled that anyone here would automatically blame the parents based upon four very poorly detailed paragraphs on a tv website. Good god, am I appalled. What the hell is the matter with you people? :grr: :grr: :grr:

[MountainLaurel]

34. You got it

My first thought was that they're homeless: Hard to find a place to bathe if you're living in a car.

[Zuni]

17. Maybe the parents should make sure their kids are washed

my parents would make me bathe every night before school, no matter how much I fussed.

When i have kids, they are going to school washed, with brushed teeth and clean clothes.

If you have running water, then your kids shouldn't be filthy.

[CornField]

9. My mom once grabbed the Lysol thinking it was hairspray

She said it burned like hell.

[absolutezero]

14. it's not that bad

but I'm a chem major, I've had much worse spilled on me

[Arkana]

13. From someone who has two parents who taught for a combined 60 years

that draws a chuckle from me--I know from just listening to my parents that kids are disgusting, and frankly I don't blame the teacher IF the kid's poor hygiene was disruptive to the learning environment.

EDIT: Clarification. Otherwise I sounded like a heartless Freeper.

[ScreamingMeemie]

16. Never,ever. From someone who has a parent that was ridiculed by a teacher

as a boy (in the 50's) for poor hygeine, that teacher is an ass. And should be sued. No excuse for that.

[Bunny]

21. Well, I hope your child is never humiliated like that. n/t

[Arkana]

22. Hopefully, when I'm a parent, I will make sure

that my kids DO have good hygiene so that stuff like this doesn't happen to them.

[Zuni]

24. exactly

these parents are guilty of neglecting their children's personal hygiene

[Bunny]

27. And so the obvious solution is to humiliate the child in front of his

class. Never mind that he can do little to change the situation in his home. Sure, douse him with Lysol. That'll teach the stinky little bastard!

[sybylla]

29. so all the odors a child could possibly carry to school

must surely emanate from bad personal hygiene? :wow:

Ever been to a farm? Ever known someone who's family fried every food they ever ate and the smelled like burnt grease all the time? Ever gone to the home of a smoker or a restaurant without a smoking section? My grandfather was a mechanic and smelled like grease all day nearly every day of the week. My great grandmother's house always smelled like Ben Gay.

Maybe the boy has a physical problem that causes him to smell and there's not much he can do about it.

Jeebus, you people sure can jump to conclusions.

[tcoursen]

20. The other kids

The other kids in the class probably noticed it before the teach did, and they most likely didn't even need the teacher to notice it.

Kids are pretty cruel when it comes to that stuff so they were probably already picking on the kid already.

I don't really see a problem with the teacher doing the Lysol thing, but they could have done it discreetly. Take the kid out into the hall for a few seconds or something like that. Send the kid to the nurses office.

[JitterbugPerfume]

28. it is cruel

that poor kid will probbly carry that humiliation his entire lifs

[cmd]

30. This is the story on the local news (edited title, new details)

The teacher assigned a girl to sit next to the boy. She refused and said it was because he smelled so bad. The teacher handled this situation poorly.

I don't know all the specifics. If he comes to school ever day fully equipped with a natural body odor, there is not much anyone can do other than to "Fabreze" the room. If he soiled his pants, he should have been sent to the office for assistance. If he comes to school dirty everyday, children's services should be notified. There are so many variables. Lysol spraying is not one of the appropriate ones.

I do understand the frustration the teacher must have felt. It is very unpleasant to be trapped in a classroom all day with a vile odor. It still doesn't justify Lysol.

Update: I am hearing more news as I type. The incident happed two years ago. The teacher has since retired. Mother says it gave the children ammunition to make fun of the son. I don't buy that. I'm sure the 28 other children in the room were well aware of the smell. Lysol still was not the answer.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

31. When I was in high school

I worked as a cashier at the local Shop'n Save. There were some pretty stinky people that came into that store. This story reminds me of these two old guys who always stunk like cow manure who shopped at the store frequently. They had long beards, their teeth were all rotten, and they were always wearing overalls. I think they came straight to the store after they finished shoveling cow crap. It was awful. I wish they would have showered first. You could smell them the second the stepped into the store and the whole time they were there. All the cashiers hated to get them as customers. I remember one of the shift leaders would spray Lysol all over the place after those guys left. Their stench was so bad you could still smell them after they left the building.

They always bought about 3 cubes of Pepsi every time they went shopping too, and almost nothing else. It was weird. My best friend's mother was the manager at the Ames that was located in the same plaza as the Shop'n Save that I worked at. She said those same two old guys would come into Ames smelling like cow manure and they would also buy cubes of Pepsi there.

[MissMillie]

32. I hate to say this but....

My son showers every morning, and again right after supper. By 2:00 every afternoon, he smells. He perspires a lot, and he has B.O.

I'm sure that in some cases, it's due to poor hygiene, but sometimes, it's just about body chemistry... and it can't be helped.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[bmbmd]

35. My wife has sent kids

to the P.E. coaches to shower. She has bought kids deodorant, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, shoes and clothes. She has done this privately, quietly, and at her own expense. I am daily in awe of teachers and the sacrifices they make for the kids they teach.