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BPS to distribute free menstrual products; students will have to ask a nurse or teacher for them
By adamg on Mon, 06/17/2019 - 2:39pm
Boston Public Schools says it will distribute menstrual products to the 77 public schools that have grades 6 and higher starting this fall.
As part of a $100,000 pilot project, the products will initially be distributed to school nurses to give to students who request them. Assuming that works out OK, "nurses will partner with selected teachers who will also give out menstrual supplies."
Mayor Walsh included the money for the program in his proposed city budget for the coming fiscal year, which starts July 1.
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Comments
Should not have to ask
They should be freely available in the restrooms. Like toilet paper.
From experience working at
From experience working at BPS, they'd end up in the toilets.
Excellent...no different than
Excellent...no different than someone asking for a band-aid! It's not a luxury and we should not have to pay a luxury tax on them.
Shouldn't have to ask, need to start younger
Girls shouldn't need to let the world know they're having their periods. If they have to ask to go to the nurse's office, many will be too embarrassed to do it.
Also, many girls start menstruating before 6th grade. Supplies need to be available in the elementary schools.
Yup.
Definitely include elementary schools. Girls can start as early as 9.
I wholeheartedly agree. I
I wholeheartedly agree. I taught third grade and every year there were usually about 2 children out of 60 who started their period during the academic year.
This is the middle of 2019
and within months, we will be in 2020, and the end of the 2nd decade of the 21st century. Parents or caregivers of girls should be fully aware of menstruation and not uncomfortable with discussing it with their child. A girl herself can also easily google what is going on with her body (boys can do like-wise regarding puberty). Schools should also haves a class where this issue is discussed. I had VERY EXPLICIT sex ed starting in my freshman year at an all-boys Catholic HS 20 years ago. We were encouraged to use condoms and explicitly told how to avoid STDs.
Make products available in the girl's restroom. They are not expensive and easily available in stores. You can even use self checkout if you're uncomfortable using a cashier.
You have no idea how this works, do you
First of all, Freshman year would be too late for almost all girls.And having them readily available at the stores only works IF YOU KNOW AHEAD OF TIME that you're going to get your period. Which is zero of the girls when getting it for the first time.and not so great after that as there is a lot of variability when your body is first settling into the hormone cycles.
News flash, if you don't have a condom, you can stop what you're doing until you get one. Menstruation does not work that way. Should a girl have to leave the bathroom as blood runs down her leg to leave school and go to the store? Going to the nurse isn't much better.
Is this the most efficient and effective process?
``As part of a $100,000 pilot project, the products will initially be distributed to school nurses to give to students who request them. Assuming that works out OK, `nurses will partner with selected teachers who will also give out menstrual supplies.'''
Partner? Selected?
I mean, friendly, middle aged
I mean, friendly, middle aged, mom type female teachers are probably way less embarrassing to ask than like, your 60 year old male math teacher, but sure.
Duh
So you’re telling me there are currently no tampons in the school nurses office?
Ridiculous!
BPS School Nurses already
BPS School Nurses already supply menstrual products for students, regardless of age or grade. Currently, they purchase them through their limited budgets or out of their own pockets.
The only thing different here is that the city will now purchase the supplies for grades 6-12.
It is not usually a bad thing for the girl to go to the Nurse's office to get the supplies. It can be an opportunity for some basic health education about the menstrual cycle and other related topics. Additionally, sometimes the girl needs some medication for cramps and the School Nurse is the only person in the school licensed to dispense it, including over-the-counter meds.
If they need the NURSE, they can go to the NURSE
If they need to go to the nurse for a health-related issue such as cramps, they can do so.
Forcing them to go to the NURSE to get a hygiene related product that's equivalent to toilet paper is stupid. That's the most charitable possible interpretation, that it's an ignorant and stupid practice and needs to stop.
It doesn't sound like the long-term plan includes the nurse
But it's not necessarily bad to have girls interact with the nurse at least initially. The nurse is probably trained to ask if the girl is experiencing cramps and if she wants medication to help. The nurse can also likely help by explaining how to use tampons or pads, how to avoid toxic shock, etc. Maybe that also provides an opportunity to engage young women on how to avoid STDs and unwanted pregnancy.