Today my teenage son has been invited to ...?

[Gawdblimeygovenor]

... to participate in an exciting piece of research into 'how periods affect learning' at school. He received a personal invite from the school in collaboration with a University carrying out research, because "all genders and gender identities are encouraged to take part!!" The research will include discussion groups at school.

I am curious and slightly befuddled. Is this an opportunity to collect research from boys on their experiences, or just an opportunity for them to sit in on discussions in order to provide future mansplaining opportunities? If the latter, will their presence inhibit genuine discussions from the girls?

What happens if only all boys turn up? Will their research grant be impacted?

Was their intention to simply include transboys who experience periods, alongside girls? If so, could they not have had a more targeted approach that didn't inhibit girls from attending by inviting all the boys in the year to sit in. I mean, presumably the research outcomes could be beneficial to girls?

The final cherry on the top of the cake is that the research will also inform the creation of a piece of artwork for the school!!

I'm going to have to contact the school to seek clarity aren't I?

What a bloody joke. WTF can a male teenager contribute to how periods affect learning.

I know!!! Utterly ridiculous. It would be funny were it not for the genuine sidelining of girls for the sake of 'inclusion'.

Isn’t it a good thing for male teenagers to have an understanding of periods aswell as females? Everyone whinges men don’t care about women’s bodies and now you’re unhappy they have the opportunity to learn.

Well do they not need to be able to compare the experience of girls with that of boys? To see what the difference is?

If they are doing it properly that is.

Good question. Perhaps the researcher will answer your question! 😀

This. Everyone should know and engage with the impact periods can have on women. It’s an important part of being human.

But this isn’t an education session, this is research. The people running this session are not there to explain periods to the boys, they are there to learn from the girls how periods impact their learning. That is the point of the session.

Boys can contribute nothing to this, and by having them in the room it’s likely the girls won’t feel able to openly talk about their periods so the researchers won’t actually get a full or accurate impression.

Boys will likely be the control group, a control group is vital to any research.

Yes, it's pretty obvious to me that this is why!

Surely need to compare

You don’t think gauging male understanding of something that literally half their classmates go through each month is important?

Actually I’m on the fence with this. When my dd was 14 , just before she was diagnosed with pcos and endometriosis, the school refused to let her in to the locked toilets. I actually posted on here as she was in reception with blood running down her legs and she called me in absolute hysterical tears. She had several boys that were in reception waiting for a bus to go to a sports match that very vocally advocated for her and called out the raging unfairness to the reception staff directly. I picked her up within 5 minutes and they still hadn’t let her into the toilets but those boys told their families and their families made complaints. They didn’t shame my daughter or “put it about” that she had had a menstrual disaster. But the policy was soon changed and they started offering toilet passes to girls with/on the pathway for gynae. The simple truth is that often girls and women are ignored and the make voice Carry’s more loudly and is acted on more than that of women and girls.

its not right. But these days my dd (17) has no problem in college with openly saying that she needs the bathroom NOW even in a busy workshop session and the boys don’t bat an eye. I think it’s good that’s menstruation is normalised so much more than it was.

Why don’t you think gauging male understanding of what their classmates go through each month is important?

If we want male colleagues and fathers to have more empathy and understanding….. isn’t it important to find out what level of understanding they have to begin with?

It surely very much depends on whether they separate the sexes for the discussions at least initially. I\t isn't clear whether the OP knows whether they are planning this or not.

I don’t think - based on the description given in the OP - that this is the point of the research. The point is to assess the impact on learning, not to assess how much the boys know about that.

Hold on a minute if boys are not taught about periods early on they get misinformation in the playground. Surely we need to know how boys are getting their info. Why should boys kept out of these discussions. We want boys to have empathy & understanding then involve them in discussions.

because there needs to be people who don’t have periods as the control group? it’s literally in the title of the research!

Well I’m not convinced that teenage boys make a good control group here (how would you know whether the impacts on learning that are reported by girls are caused by their periods or by the wider experience of sexism/misogyny etc, or something else about being a girl compared to being a boy? A better control method would be to look at how well girls can learn when they’re not on their period vs when they are).

But all OP can do is ask for clarification really.

I’d agree with this, even if it’s less about a “control group” and more collecting a variety of data. Boys and girls providing responses to questionnaires; boys taking part in discussion groups at school about their experiences of learning whilst hearing from girls talking about their experiences of learning all provides meaningful data: what trends can be identified in experiences; are these trends shared by or do they differ depending on whether the respondee / person sharing their experiences have periods or not? What conclusions - or hypotheses, for further study - could be drawn from that about the impact of periods on learning?

It sounds as though your DS isn’t sufficiently clear about the purpose of the research, so a call to the school would probably help, before you both write it off as pointless.

A better control method would be to look at how well girls can learn when they’re not on their period vs when they are

This is true, though I think it can be looked at more broadly, as well. Girls, for example, might opt out of further study of subjects like P.E or drama, or subjects involving field trips, based on knowing that their periods might fall at times when there’s a practical, competition or show or overnighter, due to worrying about inadequate facilities to change protection or keep clean, or how their performance will be affected by their cycle, in a way that boys wouldn’t have to consider.

Yes, indeed, but surely that would form part of a lesson rather than asking boys to participate in a research group about period experiences alongside girls. All that will do is inhibit discussion.

This hasn't been relaid by my son to me. I received the invitation for him to participate alongside a consent form for me to sign. The outline of the study was written clearly. Or rather, it was clearly ambiguous.

They are not planning on separating them. I know that much.

I would imagine that they will seperate them out as needed on the day. They're all being invited to take part, it doesn't mean they will all be there for every second. There may well be a written element so that it's private, small group discussion, a boys/girls session etc.

If they do expect open discussion in a mixed group then I agree with you, but I think it's a big assumption that the people working in research at a university are so thick that they haven't thought about this.

Yes, but are boys a good control group? You're comparing physically and psychologically different specimens. Surely the control group should be girls experiences when not on their periods! Also, the study is limited to 30 places. There is no specification of how many of each sex they should take, only that they encourage all 'genders and identifying genders' to apply.

In my view there is a total difference in educating boys about periods from a female view point and asking them to contribute to research about 'how periods affect learning'. There presence alone in mixed discussion groups would surely inhibit discussion. Also, being 13 and 14 year old boys with a degree of embarrassment and immaturity, they are already laughing about it.