Teacher Sprays Febreze on Student Over Stinky Fish Lunch
The mother of a student in a central Newfoundland elementary school is furious with his teacher after she allegedly sprayed the student with a deodorizer because he smelled.
Patti Rideout was "very hurt and very angry" when she learned what happened to her son while he was at school at Twillingate Island Elementary School.
"I feel like he's been embarrassed, bullied, and I think what she [did] was very disgraceful," Rideout told CBC News.
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She continued, "I think my son was treated not like a human being, I think he was treated like a dog, or a cat … I'm very hurt and very angry over this."
Rideout explained that her son wanted fish for his lunch one day for school so she made him capelin. When her son returned to class, she said, that his classmates started laughing and making fun of him.
Then Rideout said that her son's teacher made him go out into the hall for half a period. While he was in the hall his teacher came out again and that is when she sprayed her student with Febreze.
Soon after that occurred, the boy's mother sent a letter to the Nova Central School District to explain the situation and to express her distain for the way the teacher handled the situation.
In her letter she wrote in part that "when he came home from school at the end of the day … he told me that when he went back to school after lunch he was teased by his classmates and other kids … because he smelled like fish."
The letter continues to state that his teacher "took him outside of the classroom for one full period. He told me that she sprayed him with some kind of household spray like room deodorizer or Febreze."
The school did respond to the letter and issued an apology on Feb. 6 in which principal David K. Dove and Vice Principal Tonia Gillard wrote:
"[We] … acknowledge the unfortunate incident that occurred involving your son. … On behalf of the teacher concerned and the school, I would extend an apology to you and your son regarding the manner in which this issue was dealt with."
