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Original poster

TA told ds he had smelly breath

52 replies

thesmartestgiantintown · 16/03/2011 17:48

ds in reception came home this afternoon and told me that his teaching assistant told him he had smelly breath and to go have a drink. how would you react? as i am pretty annoyed about it.
he is a sensitive boy and would take something like this to heart. if other kids had heard then it doesn't take long for them to start saying 'x has smelly breath etc'.
i unnderstand that he must have just had a dry mouth as i clean his teeth morning and night so is'nt that. i'm sure there are better ways of saying this to a 4 yr old though.
thanx

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GypsyMoth · 16/03/2011 17:49

i'd be livid op! totally not on,your poor little ds!

ZZZenAgain · 16/03/2011 17:50

if it wasn't overheard by others and the drink solved the problem, maybe it was alright

Bad breath can have a lot of causes, check yourself how it is, might be due for a trip to the dentist or be coming down with something.

PixieOnaLeaf · 16/03/2011 17:50

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reallytired · 16/03/2011 17:50

I think you need to speak to the teacher. If there are concerns about hygiene in a child then there aree correct channels for the school to deal with the matter.

It is not up to the TA to make comments about personal hygiene to a four year old child.

MmeLindt · 16/03/2011 17:51

If she said it discretely then I think it is ok.

Does he sometimes have smelly breath?

Original poster
thesmartestgiantintown · 16/03/2011 17:53

thanx for the very quick replies!
i have never noticed he has smelly breath. he is prone to tonsilites however so maybe a spout of that coming.
i just don't understand why she didn't just say go have a sip of water.
he said there was 2 other kids sat by.

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hocuspontas · 16/03/2011 17:54

Maybe they were all having a joke as it was chilli for lunch? As a TA children often come up to me and 'breathe' on me after a pungent lunch. I have to 'die a slow death' and say how revolting they all smell Grin

ZZZenAgain · 16/03/2011 17:54

maybe she suggested it and when he said he didn't want a drink, that's when she brought it up? I hope he hasn't got tonsilitis. My dd got that a lot too and her breath did smell bad before it broke out (and during too I think)

Was he upset?

PixieOnaLeaf · 16/03/2011 17:56

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Original poster
thesmartestgiantintown · 16/03/2011 18:02

it was before dinner.
he just said that she had told him to go get a drink of water as he has smelly breath. i can't imagine him saying no when told to have a drink.
i think he did upset him a little as otherwise he wouldn't have brought it up. he said it wasn't very nice of her.

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ZZZenAgain · 16/03/2011 18:07

that's a shame, sound as if she was not particularly nice about it then. What can you do though?

loftyclodflop · 16/03/2011 18:17

Complain to the teacher and make sure the TA understands that she doesn't make such personal remarks to your DS again.

Original poster
thesmartestgiantintown · 16/03/2011 18:32

zzz - i guess just have a word with the teacher like lofty says. i don't want my ds getting worried about things like this at his age, he worries enough.

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cyb · 16/03/2011 18:37

I quite often say

'Does someone need to go to the loo? Theres a not very nice smell here '

I can't imagine a TA would say anything deliberately nastily to a child.

I sometimes feel school staff can't say anyhting to a child without parents getting offended

DiscoBabe · 16/03/2011 18:42

I don't think i'd be too happy if a TA said that to my child. Why is it necessary to say that to a young child?

PixieOnaLeaf · 16/03/2011 18:43

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Original poster
thesmartestgiantintown · 16/03/2011 18:47

cyb - i'm a pretty laid back person but when it comes to an adult being unkind to my ds then i'm sorry i will get offended.
i will talk to the teacher in the morning and find out if there is another version to this but like disco says, it is not necessary for a child to be spoken to in this way.

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SeeJaneKick · 16/03/2011 18:49

She need not have told him....she onlyneeded to tell hm to have a drink and then maybe to keep an eye on itincase he had a bad tooth ot something.

Complain...this is indicative of the wrong people beign entrusted with a huge responsibiilty.

shockers · 16/03/2011 18:51

I'd feel a bit upset too.

I am a TA however, and I have spoken to a child about his breath in the past. He was in yr 4 and it was really unpleasant being near him because it smelled so bad. The other children had started to notice and call him names, so we had a discreet chat about the importance of brushing, and not becoming dehydrated.

I wonder if he told his Mum about our talk.

PixieOnaLeaf · 16/03/2011 18:52

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cyb · 16/03/2011 18:54

Is there any lasting damage to your son? Did the other children hear? I cant imagine they woudl take much notice

I feel sorry for that TA now who has to explain probably a very flippant remark

erebus · 16/03/2011 19:01

I used to assist with Y2 reading. By 2pm quite a few had really quite unpleasant breath.

Telling a DC that it's something they need to be aware of for social reasons is part of the growing up process.

FWIW, I'm a bit Hmm that a 4 year old understands that there are social connotations to halitosis!

Bucharest · 16/03/2011 19:02

I'd rather have the teacher sort it out than have other children complaining- this happened in dd's class, one of the girls (7) has really bad breath and the other kids have noticed.

Now't as cruel as other children pointing it out.

Make sure he drinks plenty of water in the meantime.

Original poster
thesmartestgiantintown · 16/03/2011 19:02

i'm sorry but as an adult you know how to word things and saying to a 4yr old that you have smelly breath is not right. whilst trainning they must learn what is acceptable and what is not.
i'm not sure if the other kids heard or not. any lasting daamge i doubt it but thats not the point.

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Original poster
thesmartestgiantintown · 16/03/2011 19:06

the thing is he doesn't have smelly breath normally, i have never noticed it. it must have just been because he had a dry mouth. he drinks plenty of water when at home and i always ask him what he has had to drink at school.
surely if a teacher/TA is conserned about a childs breath which may have an impact on other class mates then a casual word to the parent is better rather than an upset/embarassed child.
maybe i'm wrong, this is why i thought i would ask on here.

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