Friday, October 07, 2005

It Stinks to High Heaven

You know, one of the many reasons why I chose to teach middle school (outside of the fact that I'm just nuts) is that you don't have to deal with the messy side of childhood. No wetting pants, no barfing (usually), no lice, no boogers on the desk. Seventh graders have pretty much outgrown this and although they can be disgusting, it's not as disgusting as a bunch of pre-school rug rats with a bathroom problem.

And then we got PoopBoy.

PoopBoy apparently earned a reputation last year as having the unique talent of being able to poop, in his pants, on a dare. The kids, being snotty little sixth graders, just thought this was hysterical and would dare PoopBoy to do his little stunt, which got PoopBoy sent to the office, the nurse's office, and then home.

Now, to be honest, PoopBoy isn't the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but he's not special ed, he's not a life skills kid, he's not autistic. (To be honest, he's lazy and is used to people calling him stupid). According to his father (who's a real treat, I assure you), this child has no medical problem for his bowel issue, and is perfectly normal. Don't know about you all, but if my kid was shitting on himself in middle school I'd have his butt in to see every specialist and mental health professional I could get my hands on.

PoopBoy was fine up until this last week and all of a sudden has started to poop regularly in his pants. You know when this happens because the smell makes my cat's litter boxes seem like a basket of blooming roses. It will knock you flat. It can clear a classroom. It can cause teachers from other parts of the building to ask, "What is that awful smell coming from your team area?" It is beyond disgusting. It is why I spent fifteen bucks buying super high powered hot oil air fresheners for my classroom.

PoopBoy will, when confronted in the hall, admit that he pooped in his pants, and while admitting this, will not show the least bit of remorse or embarrassment. He will then sit in guidance (on a stack of paper towels) while the Guidance Goddess sprays Lysol throughout the room, and wait for his father to show up to take him home. His father, by the way, will then spend half an hour yelling at every person he sees that his son his normal, that the school screwed him up, and there's not a damn thing wrong with his kid, and it's all our fault he shits on himself.

Except now the father won't come down. He simply sent his kid to school with a change of clothes and a packet of baby wipes. We are talking about a thirteen year old here.

So the other day PoopBoy walks in my room, stinking of shit to high heaven, and I immediately usher him into the hallway after my kids start making gagging noises and hideous faces of disgust. PoopBoy, for once, claims he didn't poop. He also claims he actually wiped his ass and cleaned himself off. However, the smell says otherwise. Off he goes to get his baby wipes and his change of clothes. Before he goes he whimpers and whines (which is kind of freaky considering that he's a big kid, too) about how nobody likes him and everyone says he stinks all the time.

Well, duh, I don't think most kids are rushing out to be best buds with a kid that smells like a diaper and probably should be wearing one.

We've told Mr. Enforcer that this has got to stop. He's disrupting at least one class a day and lets, face it, he's a BioHazard. If, as his father says, there's no medical reason why this is happening, then there's a mental one. And with a father like this kid has got, I wouldn't be suprised that there's a lot more than mental issues involved.

And if his father is so damn smart, as he's claimed to all who will listen, then I think he should just homeshool the little cherub and he can shit all he wants.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That kid needs a counselor, a medical examination, and possibly child protective services.

Mrs. Bluebird said...

Exactly. As far as his parents are concerned there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with their kid. So, obviously, he's not going to get a counselor or a medical examination (although the school has been told that a signed doctor's note admitting there is no medical concern is forthcoming). What he really needs is to be removed from that home and placed in protective care. My guess, and I'm not a psychologist, is that this is his way of getting back at an emotionally abusive dad (hell, he's abusive to the staff at our school, I can only imagine what he's like with his family) and also a way to get any kind of attention at all. We've talked with the principals about calling DCS and that apparently is the next step we're going to be taking.

Hokule'a Kealoha said...

I was a new teachers aide, and was assigned a 2nd grader who was so dirty... his family never washed anything, I had to help him wash his hands (was told this would "soothe" him and help him get ready learn...hogwash, it was to try to minimize biohazzard.) and try to get him to the bathroom regularly as he had accidents. sure enough as soon as we tried to get him to do something he did the pooping number. The grandparent raising him wanted ME to clean him up. The school didnt allow that and after a week or two of this he was pulled from school. Its a control thing. Its the last and only thing some abused kids can do to try to control their out of control world. YOur kid needs big time help and the trama of having other kids torment him is going to make it worse.

oh, I didnt last the first quarter of being a TA, I got into the face of an administrator that felt I should go into the boys gym changing room to watch over another freakazoid kid and said "get a man for that" whats a girl to do???

Miss Two said...

Wow. As a former 8th grade health teacher I fully sympathize with you. Dealing with farts on command was bad enough... but actual pooping? Good grief.

Y'know, if that kid isn't either treated for his mental issues or taken out of that home and then treated for the mental issues soon, maybe someone could make an anonymous complaint to child services. 12 years old is just too old to be doing that. As it is I don't know how he'll get through high school without knowledge-gossip of his pooping episodes following him.

peace
TwennyTwo

Anonymous said...

There is an actual medical condition - encopresis - children over the age of four who defecate inappropriately. If you care to know more about the condition, and not just ridicule the student, you can read about it here:

http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic670.htm

I know children who have encopresis, and I know some who learned how to do it on command as a "magic trick" to get the other children to stop picking on them. If they can act like they're cool because they can gross out the teacher, it gives them a blessed reprieve from the ridicule that goes along with "smelling like a diaper".

The reason a child with encopresis can defecate on command is because the stool is always right at the sphincter and it doesn't take effort to make a little bit come out. I find it shameful that a teacher wouldn't think past a bias like yours to try to find out this very easily located information. I'm sorry his father is a trip, and I'm sorry he has to deal with ridicule from other kids as well as the adults at his school.