Historian: Teach Children to Sniff in School
A smell historian argues children need to be taught to use their noses to improve wellbeing and understand their environment, countering modern synthetic scents and pollution.
Children should be taught how to smell properly in school to boost their wellbeing and comprehension of the world, according to a leading historian of smells. Dr Will Tullett of the University of York made the case for olfactory education, citing pollution's impact on our sense of smell and the pervasive use of synthetic scents.
Dr Tullett notes that pollution has been found to impair olfactory abilities. He also points out that many modern objects, from margarines to car interiors, have their original smells removed and are then reodourised with artificial aromas. He said there is an open question about what the proliferation of those kinds of synthetic scents in our daily lives does to our ability to discriminate between different smells.
The Case for Smell Training
As a result, Tullett advocates for formal smell education. He expressed a desire for a world where primary and secondary school pupils are taught to engage their noses, adding that such training could also happen at home. One practical method would be to encourage people to simply smell more items in their environment.
Tullett explained that the more we smell, the more we enlarge the vocabulary through which we can describe other things. He compared the approach to that of sommeliers, who visit marketplaces to smell everything, thereby expanding their range of reference points for comparison and contrast.
Practical and Psychological Benefits
Thinking critically about smells can aid self-understanding, such as exploring why certain odours are comforting. It also provides practical information about the world. Tullett gave the example of food safety and sustainability, where smelling to check freshness could be more reliable than solely relying on a use-by date.
There are significant mental health benefits linked to our sense of smell. Tullett stated that lots of studies have shown that smells and our ability to enjoy them are strongly linked to our sense of wellbeing. He noted that those who suffer from smell loss often experience depression, anxiety, and other symptoms.
Challenging Misconceptions and Bias
Tullett pushed back against the notion that people undervalue their sense of smell. When asked, individuals often share vivid smell-related memories, suggesting they recognise its importance but lack the language or confidence to discuss it.
He also challenged the common idea that the past was smellier. He argued the past did not stink any more or less than the present, it just smelled different, and said this misconception gets to the heart of how smell is often used to mark difference and discriminate.
Smells are still weaponised, Tullett said, from landlords refusing tenants based on beliefs about food aromas to proposed laws that could criminalise rough sleepers for excessive smells. He urged greater self-awareness of our attitudes and more empathy towards others' olfactory preferences, suggesting a thoughtful sniff can bridge divides rather than build them.
He predicted that 21st-century Britain will be associated with the smells of hand sanitiser, wildfires, and water pollution. The smell of a wood fire, once nostalgic, may increasingly become a fearful one linked to burning vegetation. Tullett's book, Sniff: A History of Smells, is scheduled for publication on 8 September.
