Third Grade Stinks

The blond twin came home from school with a story that still makes me cringe. The teacher told the class they needed to start wearing deodorant because so many of them were stinky after gym.
It's not that she told them to wear deodorant that makes me cringe. I know enough teachers to know that's a standard conversation in junior high school. Kids don't seem to realize their perspiration starts to smell. Parents don't seem to realize their children become more "fragrant" as they go through puberty.
What make me cringe is the idea that third graders are starting to smell. According to everything I've read their perspiration starts to smell once they go through puberty. The idea of third graders going through puberty is just frightening to me.
This seems to be the third grade parents' main conversation. Girls showing signs. Boys showing signs. All of us say it's way too early for our children to go through puberty, but none of us know how to stop it. Instead we band together and try to figure out how to go through it gracefully.