AIBU to be shocked at the school

[wonderingwendy]

handing out my 11 year old dd tampons ?
i was really angry .
she knows all about periods and we have a very open relationship ,she has sanitary towels and that is the best option for me and her i believe
im just shocked as to how my little girl would even manage to get a tampon inside her .
the teacher gave it to them and they weren't even in a sex education class.

For heavens sake. Why on earth didn't you calmly explain how they worked? You seem irrationally obsessed with ensuring she doesn't want to use them. Poor girl.

You see, maybe because you don't use them, you can't give her unbiased information. That's why education in school is a food thing IMO

YABU, she's just learning what a tampon is & isn't. Other girls will use them & she doesn't want to be embarrassed by misunderstanding what it is (& isn't). Doesn't mean the school has made a decision that she will use one.

YABU. HTH.

i did explain depending on how heavy your flow is will determine how big it gets .

I guess it is less likely you'd talk about protection you choose not to use yourself. That's just made me make a mental note to talk to dd about moon cup when the time for our chat comes.

Yabvu it's a tampon not a dildo. You are overreacting big time. She might want to usetampons if she does sport or go swimming. It's her choice what she uses it's her period not yours. I was given a tampon at 11, 24 years ago as part of the talk on periods, it id did not corrupt me, we dipped them in water an trew tem on the celing

I'm with missymoomoomee - YABU.

But doesn't everyone play with them fire them across the room using the tubes as launchers and put them in water? I knew what tampons did as my mum used them, so I just thought they were normal as a thing to use when I started my periods - but that was a couple of years after the playing with them phase.

i did explain depending on how heavy your flow is will determine how big it gets

Actually imo that's really bad advice, as a tampon userI can say that they don't get really big or anything, I think you're passing your tampon phobia onto your dd.

And did you xplain that it won't get that wide inside her, and that the vagina is stretchy anyway?

Well, that's bollocks.

Your glue will determine how long they last. They expand to fit the contours of your vagina to stop leaks, they don't carry on expanding they way they do loose in a glass of water. No wonder the poor girl was terrified.

Hopefully she will get better, more accurate advice in school.

Flow, not glue!

Putting it in a glass is likely to make her think that's how big she is inside ........

OP why are you shocked that the school gave them out along with sanitary towels if you believe they are a valid form of sanitary protection. you say you think it is a decision parents, not teachers shoudl deal with but you had no objection to the sanitary towel being handed out.

I was given tampons at school when I was 11. Yabu.

I think the op doesn't think they are valid, or at least not valid for virgins.

I am quite sad that people are like this, probably passed down from their parents I imagine. Even my prudish mother didn't try to dictate what sort of sanitary products I used or try to scare me off a perfectly valid and acceptable choice.

Tampons don't expand inside you the same way they do in a glass of water. Plus, water isn't really the same as period blood. The water thing is just a good way to explain how much they can hold.

I was given tampons, pads and liners at school aged 11 too (15 years ago). Perfectly normal, and great for some of the girls whose parents couldn't talk to their kids about stuff like that. Also good for the girl in my class who didn't see her mother.

theinets I think that's possibly the most inappropriate and spiteful comment I've ever seen on MN. I think you owe the OP an apology

While I think the other MNs are right that you shouldn't be "shocked" about the school showing her tampons OP, I can imagine a little bit what you're feeling about your dd growing up and being influenced by people outside of her family. It is tough when that happens to you in a slightly "blimey!" kind of way like this

Come on people. Lay off the OP. She's just hoping for a friendly punch on the shoulder as she comes to terms with her DD's changing life, not to be flayed on the high altar of MN's coolness

My mum used tampons herself, but put off telling me about them whenever i asked. As a consequence i used lilets, which i think are hard for girls to use. The irony was, she used tampax

At least part of the problem here is that OP doesn't seem to understand how tampons work. She has an irrational fear of them based on no/little understanding of how they work, and has passed that onto her DD with her misleading explanations. I think this seems a prime example of why schools need to help in the education process!

Bitout

Fair point.

< biffs op on shoulder >

id be slightly concerned if my 11 year old dd was freaking out about tampons

i think you need to talk to her

my 7 yo is not so 'silly' over periods/ sanitary protection

No Patricia, this thread has decided that. The OP has actualy said very little.

So the teacher gave her and her class mates them randomly today and not as part of PHSE or anything else? That would seem very unusual for it not to be in a planned lesson with a discussion surrounding them Was that really the case???

I remember in Y7/8 when the lady from Tampax came to school as part of our PHSE and we had a discussion about periods and they also handed out free samples, along with a pink holder thing.

I would assume the handing out of samples came with some form of discussion about options. I assume the teacher didn't hand them out and say "You must use these and nothing else" therefore can see no issue.