Or is this PE teacher unreasonable about periods

[BigSandyBalls2015]

DD(15) is doing GCSE PE. Part of this involves 'personal survival' which takes place in local swimming pool.

The school obv need to book this, can't just turn up, but DD queried what would happen if some of the girls had their period at the time. PE teacher (female) replied that they'd obviously have to use a tampon, they can't miss it, can't arrange another day. A few girls told her they didn't use/get on with tampons and she got annoyed saying they'd have to get on with it on the day as no other option.

[Italiangreyhound]

Ironically my periods are a thing of the past and when they finally went, I felt a bit sad!! This thread is reminding me that actually I do not miss them!

[MelOrSue]

No worries Italian. These threads are looooong

I think we are all mostly saying the same thing.

[MelOrSue]

BTW sitsonfence. I know it's a Mumsnet cliche but I find using a Mooncup helps me not flood. I obviously bleed the same amount as if I were using a tampon but I can easily feel when I need to change so I don't end up leaking whereas I can't feel it so readily with tampons especially if I'm sleeping.

Sorry if TMI .

[Italiangreyhound]

It is a very emotive topic and gets me very fired up! So apologizes for that. Second time I've done that on this thread! Must go to bed and learn to read better!

[Italiangreyhound]

Sorry Mel I apologuise. There are so many comments and I must have misunderstood you, I did see you had posted other comments which I had not read, not on purpose.

[MelOrSue]

Italian. Yep I think you were getting a bit confused. I was the first person to mention the drug but ONLY as a possible option. I really was quite clear on that! I was also clear on the fact that you would need to speak to someone who was qualified to advise on it....i.e. NOT me.

SitsOnFemce
Unfortunately my periods are extremely heavy which is why I went to the Doctors and was prescribed the drug (sorry I'm in the phone and can't easily check the spelling). I'm peri menopausal and most months I would struggle to leave the house without it. I only use it when I have to though as I find it makes me slightly nauseous. I have to weigh up feeling nauseous with whatever it is I want to do. So, for example if I knew I was going on a long hike I would take some pills an hour or so before I leave.

I don't use it for extended periods of time (no pun intended ) so maybe that's why it stops mine completely. I don't know know the ins and outs of it I just know it works for me.

[MrsBlennerhassett]

YANBU some girls have much worse periods than others not all of them can 'just get on with it'

[CherrySkull]

this thread came to mind this last couple of days.

i had to cme off the pill after being on it for a lot of years (20 on and off now) to give my body a break.

I swim 3x a week, except when i'm on my period.

I hate tampons and i don't feel comfortable with how heavy my flow is the first 3 days to go in the pool even if i did use them, because there is no guarentee i still wouldn't leak.

IF i as an adult make that decision, why shouldn't teenagers be allowed to make it?

[pringlecat]

OP, in your shoes, I would be speaking to the school and making a stand. You can't protect your DD forever, but you can teach her that no one - not even - or possibly especially - a person in a position of authority like a teacher - has the right to tell her what to do with her body. If she wants to use tampons and/or take hormonal medication, that's her choice. It's her body. If she doesn't want to, you must absolutely stand up for her.

Empowering her now will help her make healthy decisions in relationships when she's an adult. It doesn't matter what the PE teacher would do herself as a woman - she shouldn't seek to impose her personal choices on anyone else.

FWIW, I have never swum with a tampon. I use tampons, but as a woman with a heavy flow, I wouldn't feel comfortable in the water. I've just always planned around periods.

[SitsOnFence]

It reduces flow Mel (by encouraging clotting, I believe?) I suppose if you have very light periods it might have a more noticeable impact. I take it because I was flooding through tampons and filling pads. With it, I still flood through tampons, but the overflow is fairly reliably confined to pads. No bloody way I'd attempt swimming though. Not on day 1 anyway. It would be like a scene from Jaws...

[Italiangreyhound]

Mel I know you were not advocating it as in people should have to use it, but that it might be a viable option.

[Italiangreyhound]

Mel because you and I were discussing the medication to stop periods, it was you who mentioned it first wasn't it, or have I got mixed up again!! But I do see you have made other comments since then so maybe you agree with me?

I am confused now as I thought you were advocating the use of such a medication.

[MelOrSue]

Italian
Mel if my child needed a drug to stem the flow of blood this would be a discussion I would be having with a doctor not a PE teacher.

I'm not sure why you directed this comment at me. . I wouldn't dream of discussing something like that with a PE teacher instead of a Doctor either 🙄. I doubt anyone would which is why NO ONE has suggested you do.

[Italiangreyhound]

Mel if my child needed a drug to stem the flow of blood this would be a discussion I would be having with a doctor not a PE teacher.

[Italiangreyhound]

reality "If a teacher started telling my daughter what to do with her own body I would be the first one up to complain to school." I guess we agree! YAY!

[Ordinarily]

I agree with Italiangreyhound. The situation is sexist because the default position is that periods do not occur and being male is the norm.

[MelOrSue]

BTW - I still don't know whether children should take TRANEXAMIC ACID routinely for periods.... you would have to ask a doctor and I'm not one.

[MelOrSue]

SitsOnFence. I thought that tranexcemic acid was solely for reducing blood flow . If it doesn't do that I presume it must have another purpose. I only take it when I need the flow to stop.

BTW I just found THIS UK WEBSITE 'Medicines for Children'. explaining how transexamic acid CAN be used for children. The article was reviewed in 2015 so it's not too old. The That rather contradicts the information given in the US Website quoted below.

The website I've linked to is a partnership programme ; WellChild, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and Neonatal and Paediatric Pharmacists Group (NPPG). So looks legit!

[Bettersleepoutdoors]

Well, blood and semen are both bodily fluids. Menstural blood is produced by females and semen by males. Neither sex can help producing these fluids.
I don't think "wet dreams" are common in swimming pools but they are common in teenage boys during the night/ early am and residential trips do happen in schools.
I have read several pages of "suggestions" about how girls should stem their blood flow including use of drugs that are not safe for children and using tampons (which can cause tss and which many girls are UNABLE to use) So I think, although they are not the same, the scenarios are worthy of some comparison.

[Reality16]

I guess I would really not want a teacher to be having that debate with my daughter. I totally agree. I think a lot gets lost in these long threads but I don't think the teacher in this situation was right, not at all. When I say about girls exploring options I meant with, hopefully, the help of their parent/s and their own research. Not a teacher. If a teacher started telling my daughter what to do with her own body I would be the first one up to complain to school.

[Offred]

Well equality and discrimination laws expect males and females to be on an equal footing. Public authorities have a duty not to directly or indirectly discriminate based on gender.

[Italiangreyhound]

Reality "What I as trying to say is that I think rather than saying that these teenage girls should just say absolutely no I don't HAVE to do that, it is good enough lesson to teach hem to look for solutions first. That doesn't mean that I think anyone should EVER do anything they don't want to do, but as in all parts of life, I do believe if we have a problem that we should search for possible solutions."

OK, thanks for clearing that up.

As I quoted that medication another poster mentioned it is really not recommended for children so my daughter would not be even considering it before she was 18.

"If the girls then decide nonthey don't want to use tamping, then that's fair enough ....they should be encouraged to explore the options first."

I guess I would really not want a teacher to be having that debate with my daughter. Especially just before a PE class where the pressure would be racked up!

Girls are socialised to play nice and do what they are told, by society. I am well aware many do not do that! I can see a girl may feel pushed into something by a teacher because she feels she is being troublesome by not exploring it. She may also just feel she wants the teacher to stop talking about her period!

Now to me this is not a very nice way to deal with young women who may well be later in life in situations where they are under pressure to do or allow things with their body that they are not comfortable with/not ready for etc.

If she had decided at home she did not want to use tampons then deciding she was willing to so she could do a PE class (to help others out) would be wrong, IMHO. It would basically be saying to the child actually your needs matter less than the teacher or the class. And if it comes to a thing like an exam where the stakes are higher, where she was being faced with losing out because she did not want to use a tampon, then that decision really would clearly be not what she would want to do under normal circumstances. To me it is kind of coercive to do that to girls.

By all means suggest that, suggest it at the start of the school year/term/swim classes... suggest it in a letter home "girls on their period can still swim if they are able/willing to use tampons."

But no need to debate it poolside or in the changing room or in front of others if the girl says I can't swim today.

Exams should be prepared for this. It is not too much to ask! And if men bled monthly it would not be too much to ask at all.

Totally agree with Bettersleepoutdoors. I think there was something they put in squaddies tea, wasn't there! Nowadays it would be (rightly) against their human rights!

[MelOrSue]

^Mel //www.drugs.com/cdi/tranexamic-acid.html^
I cannot see how this drug would be of any safe use for children
"Tranexamic acid should be used with extreme caution in CHILDREN younger than 18 years old; safety and effectiveness in these children have not been confirmed."

That's as clear as can be. Tranexamic acid is not suitable for children.

[Reality16]

But I wasn't comparing to boys. Periods are girls, it's not exactly silly to suggest that before saying 'I'm not doing that' (ie exam) to explore if there a any options available.

How the hell you think a wank is comparable to a period is almost as interesting as comparing a GCSE exam to a residential trip. These things are non comparable.

[Bettersleepoutdoors]

If the girls then decide nonthey don't want to use tamping, then that's fair enough, I don't use them myself anymore, and if they don't want to take a period stopping pill that's perfectly ok too, but they should be encouraged to explore the options first.
I don't think that's a good starting point though. I'm sure there are drugs that boys could take to stop them wanking and ejaculating or having wet dreams on residential trips to avoid someone having to deal with the laundry, but I seriously doubt anyone would suggest it. Some woman just gets on with the laundry.