Girl, 8, sent home 24 times for smelling

[jjenny]

I am pretty sure that CPS can do more. I am not sure why they just closed the case, since the issue with the odor has not been resolved.

"Sometimes children are raised in environments that are very close to being classified as neglect and sometimes are actually placed in that category," Dykes said. "When children appear to be dirty or have excessive body odor generally the teacher will have a conference with the child or ask the nurse or guidance counselor to discuss the issue with the parent to determine the possible cause. There are rare instances when a medical problem is involved, but more often than not it is simply poor hygiene and the child is living in troubling conditions. Perhaps the electricity or water service has been terminated for non payment of bills. There are times when we involve DCS, but generally the conversations with the parents will discover there is a need to assist with finding a funding source or agency that can help the family thorough social services."

http://www.wjhl.com/story/21847947/...spended-24-times-from-school-for-smelling-bad

 

[flipflop]

I feel the bully is every responsible adult who could help resolve this and doesn't. I could understand once or twice, until the source of the odor is identified and resolved. But 24? It looks like an issue between the adults, and the child is left to face the consequences while they battle their wills. I think mom has taken offense rather than action, and it doesn't matter how nicely its said, being told you smell too bad to stay in school 24 times is mean. Schools can and do routinely get involved in a number of issues that ideally should be handled at home. Why not this one?

School: there is only so much that the school can do. Once they discover that there is a problem, then call in the parents and discuss the issue. If the problem still continues, they have a follow up meeting with them. If the problem still exists again, they have no choice but to call in outside agencies such as CPS. Obviously, the problem is still ongoing as they have had to send her home 24 different times. If the parents are not following through with suggestions of cleaning the house and bathing her daughter, then there is nothing more the school can do.

CPS: once they step in, they would have seen that the child is loved and is somewhat cared for. She is being neglected of cleanliness. They were probably told to clean the house and bath the daughter, the parents probably did this and CPS came back and closed the case. However, they probably didn't check for clean sheets, clean towels, clean clothes etc After the follow up visit, the parents probably didn't keep up with the cleaning and fell back into their non cleaning mode.

Parents: All I can say is common sense is a very difficult thing to teach!!! Obviously these parents need further help with how to "keep a household clean". A clean house with clean towels, sheets, clothes etc would smell better than an unkept house.....common sense!!!!!!

This is all JMO and I feel that no one is bullying anyone in this case.

 

[tlcya]

I too don't see bullying. I see a school that is frustrated and left with no recourse but to send the child home. It is no fault of the child's in any way but I do not fault the school either.

CPS has their hands full. And while there may be a cleanliness and hygiene issue in the home, CPS sees far far worse. It is not a crime to be poor nor is it a crime to be dirty (unless it is very very very dire health concern dirty) so CPS hands would probably be tied too.

I know it can be rather embarrassing and insulting to have someone tell you your kid stinks, bad. But I sure hope this family can get past the embarrassment and resolve this.

I would hate to see this kiddo yanked from school and home schooled simply because its easier than arguing with the school anymore or making some needed changes to their household or routine.

That outcome would worry me

 

[flipflop]

I too don't see bullying. I see a school that is frustrated and left with no recourse but to send the child home. It is no fault of the child's in any way but I do not fault the school either.

CPS has their hands full. And while there may be a cleanliness and hygiene issue in the home, CPS sees far far worse. It is not a crime to be poor nor is it a crime to be dirty (unless it is very very very dire health concern dirty) so CPS hands would probably be tied too.

I know it can be rather embarrassing and insulting to have someone tell you your kid stinks, bad. But I sure hope this family can get past embarrassment and resolve this.

I would hate to see this kiddo yanked from school and home schooled simply because its easier than arguing with the school anymore or making some needed changes to their household or routine.

That outcome would worry me

JMO I don't feel the parents are embarrassed by this, if they were, they never would have taken this issue to the media using their full names. I feel they are undereducated and are lacking in common sense when it comes to raising children and running a household. I feel that this problem will be resolved if the parents see/understand that there is a problem and reach out and accept the help being offered....if not, the problem will continue to exist.

 

[tlcya]

I don't discount that possibility, just trying to be kind and offer the benefit of the doubt.

I too got a "certain" impression by mom taking this complaint to the press. The impression I am left with is that mom is inconvenienced by her daughter being sent home repeatedly from school. Which is hard for me to understand because from her tweets on twitter her "job" seems to involve being on the computer (at home I assume) and taking surveys??

I hope my impressions are wrong. I know we see a lot of horrific cases here. And this one pales in its severity to most of them. But for some reason I am drawn back to this thread over and over. This little girl has struck something in me.

 

[Bugzmom]

In the elementary school handbooks they give out at the beginning of the school year for the parents and students to read mentions bad bodily odor as unacceptable along with holes and inappropriate logos. Well I guess I should say the elementary school my children attended did. I thought it kinda funny at the time but now it seems more sad that some parent would need to be told to wash their babies.

 

[flipflop]

In the elementary school handbooks they give out at the beginning of the school year for the parents and students to read mentions bad bodily odor as unacceptable along with holes and inappropriate logos. Well I guess I should say the elementary school my children attended did. I thought it kinda funny at the time but now it seems more sad that some parent would need to be told to wash their babies.

It is very sad and you would be surprised at how often teachers have to step out from the academics of the students and have to "educate" the parents on "various" things.....common sense is not too common!!! It burns me when people think teachers have an easy 9-3 job.

 

[MsFacetious]

For those with kids with stinky feet... have you tried WOOL socks?
It's the only thing that worked for my Dad. :seeya:

 

[treeseeker]

I'm glad this little girl will be getting some assistance. This story just made me see red, and my heart hurt for her. I'm no fan of holding teachers responsible for everything, but there are other professionals within the school and district who probably could have stepped in and come up with a better solution.

Holding young children accountable for things they don't have the capacity or resources to affect on their own is IMO cruel and often seems to serve ulterior motives. IMO this is along the same lines as expelling young children for gun-shaped pop tarts, etc. Those responsible for these kinds of decisions are trading teachable moments for grandiose statements at the expense of children. I'm dangerously close to being OT , my apologies, but this helps explain the way I see this.

 

[MsFacetious]

I'm not seeing what everyone else is in the pictures I guess...
I see some messy hair (maybe they don't want to brush it) and a messy house.
My mother's room looks much like that house, but her room doesn't stink. So I don't think it has to stink.
I don't see "filthy" kids... just messy hair kids. Maybe I'm missing some pictures though.

 

[jjenny]

Well, clearly, there is no way to say whether the child emits foul odor or not by just looking at the photos.
I presume teachers wouldn't be sending her home if she wasn't emitting the foul odor.

 

[sfbaynancydrew]

I'm not seeing what everyone else is in the pictures I guess...
I see some messy hair (maybe they don't want to brush it) and a messy house.
My mother's room looks much like that house, but her room doesn't stink. So I don't think it has to stink.
I don't see "filthy" kids... just messy hair kids. Maybe I'm missing some pictures though.

I see a filthy environment. Dirty mattresses with no sheets on them, no pillows even in the close up pic on Mom's page. Kid's head next to big brown stain on the mattress, dirty wall. Kids with matted, unbrushed hair, wrinkled dirty, illfitting clothing (the little one has enormous grass stains on the knee of her pants--and she's at an indoor holiday event!), the kids bedroom is piled high with *junk* to the ceiling, again with the no sheets on the mattress (this is NOT a normal, healthy way to live). She would have to crawl over an enormous pile of crap just to get to her dresser. The pic of her in her princess dress is in the kitchen--look at the crazy MESS the food is mixed in with. I sure wouldn't want to eat from that kitchen! I'm sorry but that house is DISGUSTING and certainly as bad as any house in hoarders.

Mix in all the animals in other various pictures and I think we see a fairly accurate picture of the problem.

Occam's razor.

 

[flipflop]

I'm glad this little girl will be getting some assistance. This story just made me see red, and my heart hurt for her. I'm no fan of holding teachers responsible for everything, but there are other professionals within the school and district who probably could have stepped in and come up with a better solution.

Holding young children accountable for things they don't have the capacity or resources to affect on their own is IMO cruel and often seems to serve ulterior motives. IMO this is along the same lines as expelling young children for gun-shaped pop tarts, etc. Those responsible for these kinds of decisions are trading teachable moments for grandiose statements at the expense of children. I'm dangerously close to being OT , my apologies, but this helps explain the way I see this.

Perhaps they did step in to try other solutions. BUT if the family was not willing to work on these solutions the only other option they have is to suspend her until the family solves this problem on their own. With Mom going to the media, that tells me that she was not working with the school, but tried to turn the blame on the school for the suspensions.

 

[nosysw]

I'm not saying this is the case here, but could this mom think she can turn this into a law suit and make money?

Some of you would be surprised at how many parents would say/do just about anything to make a few bucks, even at the cost of humiliating/demeaning their own child. I don't think they don't love them- they just don't realize the emotional cost of what they're doing and think the potential financial windfall will benefit the family, and the child will be better off.

I have worked with a number of parents, over the years, who would do anything to get their child found eligible for special education so they can get a monthly social security check. Good kids are turned bad, literally, in many cases, knowing their parents are labeling them disabled, so they can get a check. It is demoralizing to be stigmatized in this way, when there is no true disability, but it happens every day.

I just really have to question why this would get to the media, thereby potentially traumatizing this child, unless mom felt there would be some "reward" in the end. On the other side of the coin, if mom is limited in some way herself, perhaps she is using this as a way to try to strong arm the school into keeping her child there every day without making any changes on her own. Possibly, she could be getting legal notices for keeping her child out of school, and trying to exculpate herself by saying it is not willful, but forced upon her by the school(?)

 

[treeseeker]

Fishing for a lawsuit is always a possibility. My impression was that mom was frustrated, though. But it isn't clear to my why - does she not think her daughter smells that bad, or is she unable or unwilling to correct it? I also wonder if mom picked her up from school. If she did, why not just clean her up a little, maybe bring a change of clothes, in the nurse's office, and return her to class? Was that an option? Was she angry when called, or was she embarrassed? I've seen intelligent, successful adults still suffering the principal effect lol, where they are nervous about speaking with the ultimate authority figure . Of course there are others who can be exceptionally rude, too...

As usual, my thanks button works randomly, so thanks

 

[AnaTeresa]

I also got the impression that mom was frustrated, rather than trying to make a buck. It appeared to me that she truly could not figure out what the problem was and felt like going public may be the only way to resolve it.

 

[ozazure]

That is a hoard house, I'd bet $100 on it and like most people with a hoarding problem, she probably doesn't let people in voluntarily, hence the trampoline interview.

Poor kid Fingers x'd the little one will manage to do whatever the older does to not smell so badly because I think the authorities are SOOL on this one.

 

[georgiagirl]

An 8 year old Tennessee girl has been sent home 24 times because she smelled.

http://fox4kc.com/2013/04/02/girl-sent-home-from-school-24-separate-times-for-smelling-bad/

Mom says she's been to the doctor, and bathes regularly.
I smell a bully, and that's not a joke.

Holy crap. After watching that video and seeing mom with no teeth I'm guessing personal hygiene isn't real high on her list of priorities. Poor kid probably never gets a bath. Looks like they live in squalor too. CPS really needs to take that kid out of there and force mom into parenting classes.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

All of my posts are as always MY OPINION ONLY unless a link is provided!

 

[georgiagirl]

An 8 year old Tennessee girl has been sent home 24 times because she smelled.

http://fox4kc.com/2013/04/02/girl-sent-home-from-school-24-separate-times-for-smelling-bad/

Mom says she's been to the doctor, and bathes regularly.
I smell a bully, and that's not a joke.

Holy crap. After watching that video and seeing mom with no teeth I'm guessing personal hygiene isn't real high on her list of priorities. Poor kid probably never gets a bath. Looks like they live in squalor too. CPS really needs to take that kid out of there and force mom into parenting classes.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

All of my posts are as always MY OPINION ONLY unless a link is provided!

 

[revampz]

The facebook photos and comments are so enlightening. These girls are VERY loved - no wonder CPS didn't remove them. But as others said, it's clear from the pics inside the home that this family needs a lot of help with cleaning up the home and the mother's depression.

In the Easter egg bench photo of the two girls, it's obvious hygiene is the issue. Those two girls are filthy. Prayers that this family gets the help they need and can remain together in a healthier home life situation.

I agree with you Jeanna......I looked through both her & her husbands facebook pages and they are definitely loved and I think it would be very sad to take these kids from their parents......I don't think neglect is involved when it comes to caring, love, food etc. I think they are just filthy living people and a lot of us have met people like that but it doesn't mean they are horrible to their kids. In this case I really think the mother doesn't understand that her child is stinky because she too was probably bought up that way and they are used to it. The house is definitely filthy and they are hoarders, I noticed there were a lot of animal skulls on the walls and on the cupboard etc and I noticed photos of two separate large dogs, they mention they have 3 chiaua (excuse spelling...the little dogs!) and at least 1 kitten.