Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Or is this PE teacher unreasonable about periods

706 replies

BigSandyBalls2015 · 26/01/2017 21:32

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.

OP posts:
lljkk · 27/01/2017 09:48

Wildly hysterical to say that the birth control pill is blanket dangerous.
One thing I love about PE teachers is the "Sort it Out" attitude. Stop making excuses. Problems have solutions.
If the assessment day was booked months ago it will probably be difficult (or impossible) and expensive to schedule an extra session.

for PE (most GCSEs, actually) it was clearly explained to us exactly what assessments would happen, what the kids would have to do. Was this not explained to your DD, @BigSandyBalls2015.

hackmum · 27/01/2017 09:49

Always amused at people who say things like "periods shouldn't interfere with life". I suppose they're the same people who say "Pregnancy isn't an illness" - fine in theory, but doesn't go down very well when you say it to a woman who is on a drip as a result of hyperemesis or is crippled by SPD.

It's as if these people - and there do seem to be a lot of them - cannot begin to understand that other people are different, and have different life experiences and different attitudes. Weird.

LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 27/01/2017 09:56

Nah they have been watching too many Bodyform commercials Grin

MalletsMallets · 27/01/2017 09:56

I can't use tampons, id be stuffed. I really struggle with smears as well.
Pre children i was of the "don't let it interfere with life" camp.
Now I've had children, oh my they are horrific and i get it.
It just depends what sort you have. For some people they are ok and you can get on with it. For others its crippling.

In this instance the teacher should have said, "come and talk to me and we will see if we can come up with a solution", thats the "have you tried tampons" conversation.

LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 27/01/2017 09:58

And actually that's something peculiar to MN - the faux shock that anyone could be different (also the claims that the posters who 'don't let it get to them' have the worst periods known to women Grin

Katy07 · 27/01/2017 09:59

Is it so difficult to arrange for two separate dates for it - a couple of weeks apart?! Confused

FormerlyFrikadela01 · 27/01/2017 10:01

I couldn't use a tampon until after I'd had sex. I just couldn't relax enough to insert it and when I did it felt excruciatingly painful.

As for take the combi pill back to back... Been there done that several times, still got a period. Doctors said it happens sometimes.

OvariesBeforeBrovaries · 27/01/2017 10:01

I always thought those tampon adverts with ladies on their periods rollerblading around and hugging clouds were bullshit... no, they're just populated by people who say "you can't let periods get in the way of your life" Grin

I'd like to rollerblade and hug clouds too, but I'm too busy hugging a hot water bottle like my life depends on it and totally spaced out on tramadol, losing ping pong ball sized clots. No tampons or moon cups fit either. It's easy to say periods shouldn't get in the way when you have a co-operative uterus and a one-size-fits-all vagina.

MusicToMyEars800 · 27/01/2017 10:04

AndShesGone I agree with that, I've never had anything come out whilst in water, it would have to be a quick dash to the changing rooms when they get out though Grin

misblink · 27/01/2017 10:10

*They either wear internal protection or they miss the session. Problem is that there will be some who lie about having periods because they don't want to smudge their slap in the pool, but that is their problem.

Hopefully science is compulsory though, so they don't grow up ignorant about gravity.*

yep

ifonly4 · 27/01/2017 10:18

If the personal survival is an assessment and counts towards her grades then it'll be hard to accommodate everyone as 10% assessment will probably have a period. The school book time out (around other lessons, assessments, assemblies, mocks (our lot are doing a second lot of mocks in some subjects) and scheduled GCSE exams. Even if there's two sessions, it's going to be hard for every girl to know exactly when she's going to be on.

joystir59 · 27/01/2017 10:19

I think the bleeding stops when you are in the water anyway. Just swim and don't worry. I learnt to use tampons so that I could keep on swimming. It was scary and painful until I got it right but I was determined to get on with life. For girls who cant push one inside aren't there really small ones these days? I don't think girls should be molly coddled. Periods can be used to get out of so much of life.

LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 27/01/2017 10:24

joy Several people have said that doesn't happen for them. And it's grim as fuck unless you are absolutely positive you won't bleed in the pool

LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 27/01/2017 10:25

Molly coddled? Seriously? So push it inside you even though you don't want to/it hurts? Great message - if someone had said that to me at 15 they would have been told to fuck off

Reality16 · 27/01/2017 10:25

Why should young girls have to go on the pill just so can they can swim on their period?. They don't. However it was suggested as a solution in this case so the girl can take part in her GCSE survival swim. That's not quite the same as taking the pill long term to make swimming lessons every week. It's a short term, temporary measure that is an entirely reasonable suggestion.

It's all very well standing up for women's rights and saying that girls should not be 'forced' to use internal protection, but at the same time these are 15/16 year old girls and it is not a bad life lesson to teach them that sometimes you just have to suck it up and make some sort of change to enable participation. The pill is an ideal solution. I wouldn't have my DD fail a GCSE because of a principal.

LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 27/01/2017 10:26

Every period is different, like every pregnancy. But not being able to use internal sanpro doesn't mean life stops ffs.

MalletsMallets · 27/01/2017 10:27

joystir
I can't use them, small ones, applicator, non applicator. I've spent hours trying. For some (ok a very small proportion) it just isn't happening.

I also had heavy periods that still leaked in the bath.
I can't imagine there would be many in the class like me. But I would have sacrificed that 10% grade and hope I can make it up elsewhere. On the basis it would have been bloody awful for others to see that.
To just say "you have to use tampons" is like saying "you have to lift that 100kg weight"
For some, yep, no problem. For others, it's impossible.

LiviaDrusillaAugusta · 27/01/2017 10:27

Isnt bodily autonomy more than a 'principle' though? They aren't being told to wear a hat, FFS! It worries me that people can't see the difference between something worn outside the body and inside it...

Katy07 · 27/01/2017 10:29

Even if there's two sessions, it's going to be hard for every girl to know exactly when she's going to be on.
But if they book two sessions (at the start so there's no problem with the pool being booked up at short notice) a fortnight apart then that's going to cover the very vast majority of girls. You get them to pick a session close to the time - if necessary they can all be entered for the first one and just postpone to the second one if they happen to have their period on the day of the first one. It's really not rocket science and if they can't manage to organise something this simple then I wonder how they manage to teach a GCSE!

IJustLostTheGame · 27/01/2017 10:30

No way can I go swimming on the first three days.
No way.
I can see why the teacher said it, the majority of girls will be fine. But I can also see why a few girls who suffer would be worried.
I would have and have been one of the worried ones. It was mortifying.

Katy07 · 27/01/2017 10:31

it is not a bad life lesson to teach them that sometimes you just have to suck it up and make some sort of change to enable participation.
But equally it would be a good life lesson to teach them that sometimes you can think of a better solution that would enable fewer people to have to 'just suck it up'. Hmm

Reality16 · 27/01/2017 10:32

isnt bodily autonomy more than a 'principle' though? They aren't being told to wear a hat, FFS! It worries me that people can't see the difference between something worn outside the body and inside it...

Of course I can. When I was talking about the principle aspect I was and had only ever been referring to the possibility of taking the pill short term.

Reality16 · 27/01/2017 10:35

But equally it would be a good life lesson to teach them that sometimes you can think of a better solution that would enable fewer people to have to 'just suck it up. Girl has period, girl has survival swim, solution is girl uses tampons or takes pill or misses out. Its not about the amount of people it's about the individual and how they are going to deal with their life problems.

RufusTheSpartacusReindeer · 27/01/2017 10:37

How have people segued from "missing gcse pool time" to taking time off every month for periods Confused

Someone up thread mentioned encouraging their daughter to use tampons

I have and we have tried. She doesnt like it, doesnt want to do it and gets upset. I have explained that if we are on holiday that she couldnt go swimming and luckily so far its not been an issue yet

Its absolutely her choice and problem to deal with.

Obviously i have no idea what the PE teacher has said or how they said it but there are ways of telling hard truths nicely

ealingwestmum · 27/01/2017 10:42

Personal choice on how girls overcome their choice in sanpro...but, for all those that think there is no leakage into pools, chorine, salt or UV pools have to work really hard to break down the crap (feces, periods, urine, saliva, vomit etc) that does not always get picked up by the pool guard/coach on site. This creates chemical reactions (especially in a pool with 25 teenagers in full training mode kicking) that they all re-ingest, or at best, develop coughing fits. They then have to get pulled out.

One of facilities managers of my DD's club recently said that things are worsened due to more girls not wearing sanpro. I'm not a chemist, but I see the reactions and know the girls who chance it, and at times, who has the in-pool 'accidents'.