Allergy Policy

Ha! My only advice is that I seem to have become immune to the scent of adolescents after spending so much time with them. Maybe you will too? Good luck with that! :)

I told my daughter about this and she reminded me about when they were in 6th grade, each 6th grade science teacher had a talk about what a "funky smelling group" the 6th graders were. The teacher spoke about hygiene. How to properly bathe using "real soap" how to wash all of their creases and to make sure they also dried off really well. To use deodorant EVERY DAY.. And that they needed to learn how to do their own laundry, because picking up the clothes that looked clean did not count!

Maybe it is time for the teachers to have this same sort of conversations with your students. Some Parents are in denial that just because a child is 7, does not mean they are too young for a bath every day and deodorant.

Baking soda absorbs odors so does real vanilla.

You can place them in small containers around the room to help.. Also open windows and blow some fans.

I can honestly say I would support this policy wholeheartedly. Today I had a migraine all day due to my kids teacher's hair products. They burned my nose and I had a headache as soon as I got within 5 feet of her.

If the kids get smelly then mom and dad need to know their kids are needing a bath or new shoes.

Just use sensitive skin formulas for washing and use enviro-friendly cleaners in the classroom. There's no need to spray anything into the air at all. Keep your own perfume in your purse or a handkerchief tucked in there with your favorite scented oil on it and dab your nose with it occasionally. That's about it.

I'm allergic to certain ingredients in products, such as orange oils, so a policy like this one is fabulous. No more orange sprays and no more orange-scented Goo-Gone. Walking into my girls' classrooms with that stuff would have left me an itching, swelling mess.

Great policy, since most commercial scented air "fresheners" just add toxic layers of chemicals to the air everybody breathes. I don't think you can actually completely "remove" scents, like sweat, from the air, though open boxes of baking soda will help. The children themselves should be taught to wash up when they smell so strong they offend others. Even a washcloth or paper towel with plain, clean water around the neck, chest and armpits will usually do a great job of getting odors down to an unoffensive level. And adolescents still get to take showers after P.E., right? Or do kids even get P.E. any more?

It's surprising to realize this, but this craze for covering up natural smells with artificial ones is very recent – just the past two generations. Advertising has convinced us that toxic products are a reasonable solution for a problem that's not usually a problem until we're "taught" that it is. My husband smells sweaty and "manly" after a day of hard work, but his sweat doesn't actually stink unless he doesn't wash for hours after, or puts on the same sweaty clothes the next day.

I became ill 24 years ago from the load of chemicals in our daily lives – chemicals that didn't even exist 40 years ago. And many thousands of children are also becoming sensitive to modern chemicals. Their lives will be severely restricted by this, as mine is. I'm really glad to hear of this policy – it's been a long time coming.

I wish our school would do this!

Could the school nurse give a talk about personal hygiene and personal hygiene products? Maybe even hand out samples LOL?!

I'm extremely allergic to perfumes. I'm so glad to hear that someone cares enough to adopt this policy! :) I can use some oils like peppermint. Strong scents or flowery scents even in oils I can't use though. Since you can't use oils, I don't even know. Vinegar and baking soda for cleaning. But that won't help with the kids. You can't open the windows?

Can you tuck a Fresh Wave jar in the corner? It does smell like pine. Not sure what the baby version smells like. Or baking soda in open jars?

I would put baking soda in open containers and put them up where the kids cant get them. That takes all the odor out of the air without using a fragrance. You could even put it in decorative jars or containers to make it look pretty too. If you are a teacher, and your students are younger, then you can have them paint jars or the containers that you put the baking soda in. Fun project for them while making it less smelly!

Also open the windows for a little while each day so that it airs out the room. Especially if the weather is nice. Great to get fresh air.

put some vicks around your nostrils, you wont smell them!!!