High school students have always been known to smell. They forget to shower, brush their teeth or wash their clothes. It is a stereotype that has been plastered on middle schoolers and high schoolers for decades.
The worst part, most students do not even know. They walk go about their day without being aware of the lingering smell of body odor.
Tasks like making sure to shower, using deodorant, washing hands and more should be done on a daily basis to maintain proper hygiene.
Some students at Lakeland High School work hard to make sure they have and maintain proper hygiene.
Kyla Holte, a senior at LHS, makes sure to shower every day, brush her teeth twice a day and take all other daily hygienic precautions.
“It is hard to focus and feel comfortable during school when I am around kids with bad hygiene,” Holte said. “I think the main reason students lack maintaining proper hygiene is because they are too lazy or don’t know how to have proper hygiene.”
It often can be harder for Holte to focus when a classroom has an untasetful smell.
This an issue many other students see during their four years of high school.
The staff at LHS must accommodate being around teenagers who are raging with body odor and learning to properly maintain their own hygiene.
Rebecca Hasz, the LHS Spanish teacher, tries to guide students on the right path about their cleanliness.
“All you can try to do is give subtle hints in a very general way to encourage people to either wash their hair, brush their teeth, or wear deodorant, so it does get tricky,” Hasz said. “I’ve actually been pretty blessed, but I have heard some horror stories from a variety of my colleagues regarding different types of bad hygiene in general.”
Hasz is also very keen about students not sharing water bottles to avoid spreading germs.
The lack of proper hygiene can also affect the immune system. If a student is not properly managing their hygiene, they may be more susceptible to catching an illness.
Initial Hygiene, a company incorporated with hygiene experts, recommends that the best way to improve hygiene is to make sure people are washing their hands properly, which is an issue that causes millions of sick days.
Students are constantly grabbing and picking up items that are transferring germs and bacteria from one student to another.
“I think the main reason students lack maintaining proper hygiene is because they are too lazy or don’t know how to have proper hygiene,” Holte said.
However, students and staff must be mindful of students who lack the proper resources to maintain cleanliness. Some students may be staying as clean as they can.
“We do want to be mindful of some of the places that some of our students come from because it may not even be their fault that they are coming to school in a matter that they wouldn’t want to, but they don’t really have a choice or they don’t have the option,” Hasz said.
Many times, it is found that students will do a lot to avoid properly managing their hygiene. Trying to mask the bad hygiene behind something, like gum, will not resolve the problem.
Students must make sure they are staying clean to the best of their abilities.
“People try to cover body odor up with body sprays” Hasz said. “Body sprays do not cover up anything, and you just made the problem worse, so soap and water.”
