Nobody expects teenagers to handle every situation perfectly. But generally, there’s a right way and a wrong way to treat people.

This mom recently found herself dealing with that lesson after her son refused to work with a classmate during a chemistry lab.

She already knew he had been making comments about the girl’s hygiene with his friends.

But on this day, he was standing so far away that he couldn’t even participate in the lab. and the teacher told him to move closer.

He flat-out refused, even after being warned he could get kicked out of class. And that’s just what happened.

At this point, his mom decided it was time for him to face some consequences at home too.

Keep reading to see what happened next.

AITA For Grounding my son after he got kicked out of class for refusing to sit next to somebody?

My son is a sophomore in high school.

About a week ago, they did a lab for his chemistry class, and he was paired up with this one girl. I feel like I’ve heard him talk about this girl before with his friends, calling her ugly and saying she smells like feces.

He was paired up with this girl, and while they were doing the lab, my son was apparently standing so far from her that he couldn’t actually even help her in the lab.

She knows it’s true, but still.

Eventually the teacher caught on, and when she told him to move closer, he said no saying she stinks. The teacher threatened to write him up if he didn’t, and my son still refused to so he got kicked out of class.

I got the call, and when he came home I took his phone, for a) not listening to the teacher and b) publicly making fun of her presumably in frint of the whole class.

I will say, I’ve met this girl before for something else school-related in the past, and it’s true that she doesn’t smell the best, but my sentiment is the same. But my husband and my son think I’m making a big deal out of things.

AITA?

Yikes! It sounds like she made a tough parenting decision.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a stepmom who says stepson isn’t doing enough, despite the fact that he’s working 12-hour shifts to pay for his own college.

Let’s see what the readers over at Reddit think about it.

This person worked with a smelly girl, but not for long.

For this reader, the son and husband are in the wrong.

According to this comment, everyone is wrong.

This would’ve been a great way to handle it.

There’s no denying that poor hygiene can make situations like this uncomfortable.

At the same time, embarrassing someone in front of the whole class and refusing to listen to the teacher wasn’t the right way to handle it.

The mom made the right call by grounding her son because he needs to understand that treating people with kindness doesn’t stop being important just because a situation feels awkward.

Hopefully he learns that lesson because showing a little compassion costs a lot less than humiliating someone who may be already having a hard time.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man whose celebratory post-grad school vacation is being ruined by his family’s insistence he’s being lazy.