Schools Providing Sanitary Products

[Sansastark45]

Don't get me wrong periods aren't nice at the best of time but don't our schools have enough on their plates without now having to take on this??

Am i being unreasonable to think that if you have a daughter you should be having the conversation with her?? Basic own brand sanitary products are cheap enough to buy - our schools shouldn't be left to deal with this too!

Choufleur that happened to me age 13. It started at school first time but luckily our reception office had a stock for girls caught out.
I think sanitary products should be available in school for whoever needs them.
I wasnt a poor kid but happened to be at school unprepared (and was seriously worried about leaking on the grey uniform skirt).

I agree OP. Schools seem to be expected to be taking on more and more of what parents should be doing.

Rather than spend money on this it would be better to fund more social workers etc so where a child’s basic needs aren’t being met they can intervene. Much better for the child and not a “sticking plaster” that long term changes nothing.

At dd's school there is a basket of products in the toilets. Same in our sports centre

I grew up in a neglectful home unemployed and abusive parents with no access to sanitary products at all and also no money to purchase any.
I had a lovely year head at school who provided me with deodorant but I was too ashamed to admit that my parents were neglecting most of my basic needs.
Period poverty was real for me for many years until I left home at 18 and got a job.

How do you not know about period poverty?

My sons former primary have been providing san pro in the junior girls toilets for some years.

Rather than spend money on this it would be better to fund more social workers etc so where a child’s basic needs aren’t being met they can intervene.

Fully trained social workers cost far more than sanpro - and still wouldn't be able to ensure girls were provided with it. Poverty isn't necessarily a matter for social services either. Plus - again - the products are being provided by a charity, not tax payers' money.

SoupDragon

I would add to your list

Alcohol or drug addition, gambling, debt, loan sharks.

My girls asked me as we were open about which things, we have a cupboard with a choice of products, they have stuff in their bags.

Some of their friends would be horrified to have such a discussion with their parents. Let alone ask for protection.

I can't believe this is even being debated! Obviously it's a good thing. Toilet paper is free.... it's the same principle! Just a cheap product for dealing with a bodily function. Most schools already do this.

I agree most schools do it, and it shouldn’t be necessary. But it is.

It’s another thing schools have to do which the parents aren’t doing.

Same with food banks - there shouldn’t be a need and it’s shameful that they exist.

The root cause needs to be tackled, providing products is just another sticking plaster on society.

Hoepfully these girls can continue their eduction and get out of this poverty trap the government allows to circle.

I am struggling with this too. I totally get some families cannot afford sanitary products and I get that also some parents might not be on the ball with buying their daughters these products or some girls cannot talk to their parents. But will it be means tested? Personally I think they should only be given to girls who’s parents generally cannot afford to buy them. I would hate to think I couldn’t not afford to buy my daughter these items when she’s older.

I mean you can buy value sanitary products. It worries me that people in this country cannot even afford this.

It’s really worrying. I absolutely think this system this needed but not taken advantage of.

Everybody should honestly read this, an excellent book on why we all have period shame to some extent, a very interesting book that has really made me think about my own attitude to periods. read

By means testing it then you are going to firstly add to the stigma and also there will always be some that don’t quite meet the criteria and therefore miss out. It would also require the parents to be in a position to apply which won’t always happen

As has been said value stuff is all well and good if you can get to such a shop but many people are limited to where they can shop by logistics of actually getting there

pop why is San Pro different to toilet roll??

How privileged your daughter is to have such a wonderful parent.

Many aren't so lucky. You make the point these things are cheap. In which case it will barely hit a school's budget.

Local Authorities waste money hand over fist. Let's target that before picking on perfectly sensible policies which make a real difference to kids living in poverty.

I’m 45. Even then the school nurse (and we had one of those full tim in a state comp) had pads we could go and get if we were really caught out. You had to be pretty desperate as they were as thick as bricks. A lot of people’s lives are not simple. I’m so glad that so many people on here never have the problem of choosing between heat/food/toiletries but in reality some people do. In an idea world that wouldn’t happen but while it is ffs let schools be able to give out essential sanitary protection to kids who don’t have it for whatever reason (too embarrassed to ask their dad, parents can afford it, parents won’t buy it, they didn’t realise their period would start today, they’ve leaked through what they took to school...)

My mum had enough money to buy me sanitary towels but she didn't. Periods were taboo in our house so even though she knew I'd started my periods she refused to support me in any way. I survived on tissue or bought them if I could stealthily steal £3 from my mum's purse to buy a pack. I wish I could have got them from school. It was awful, especially considering I did a lot of sport.

Means testing? You mean I should quiz a 12 year old about her parents' financial situation before I decide whether she can have a sanitary towel or has to make do with bits of toilet tissue falling out of her underwear because 'well, your Mum's got plenty of money'? Quiz her in an office that has older male members of staff sitting there about her flow or positioning of the towel, as she's already had one I 'let her get away with' yesterday? Say 'Your Mum can afford them. I don't care if it's staining your socks, she has to pay for them.'?

Bollocks to that. The towels/tampons/whatever are there. Help yourself. I don't care whether you live in a ten bedroomed mansion or a single room between 7 in a bug infested B&B, whether the child benefit goes on Coke, Champagne or paying the shortfall in the rent, whether they've been fucked over by Universal Credit by being paid early for Christmas or whether you had three towels for the day and you actually need five. Just take what you need. Come back if you need more.

You need sanitary protection, take it. I am not fucking gatekeeping something as essential to women as toilet paper and soap.

@Pop2017 pretty sure there's bigger issues with school and government funding than making sure every teenager who may need them has access to them, even if a few who could afford them use them. Have you used value sanitary towels? They are bulky, noisy, and uncomfortable, yes they do the job, but I wouldn't have fancied it as a teen.

This "means testing" nonsense
Parental neglect doesn't only happen with those oh so common poor people ffs
And your average teen will be embarrassed enough why make them jump through further hoops
Give em a pad or a tampon without any further interrogation
I'm almost menopausal and remember having to go the school nurse to get a pad when I was caught short it's nothing new

I am so grateful to Amika George and also to the Red Box Project for campaigning tirelessly over this to ensure that the government provide schools with a budget where they can order for free, sanitary products, in England, from today.

When there are girls using rolled up socks or toilet paper because of a multitude of tragic reasons, how can the OP and anyone questioning it on this thread, think that they are being reasonable?

Fully trained social workers cost far more than sanpro - and still wouldn't be able to ensure girls were provided with it. Poverty isn't necessarily a matter for social services either. Plus - again - the products are being provided by a charity, not tax payers' money.

It was one of the myths I humoured when I was training as a sw that families on benefits get a sw. As if.

Also every LA I had worked for has never been at full staff. Sw are leaving the profession and the front line like rats from a sinking ship.

I teach in a college in Scotland, and we have had this for a year or so. I think it’s brilliant, for students who are struggling money-wise, and also for girls who are caught short and would previously sidle up to me at the end of a class in the hope I had a spare tampon to tide them over. (Which I would gladly provide.)

The products are in a box in every student toilet, and there are also paper bags if someone needs to take a supply. (I think there’s possibly a scheme where students can sign up to regularly access products each month too, rather than just grab something on the hop.) I have been grateful myself when I have dashed to the student loos between classes and realised my period has started unexpectedly.

Bloody hell, I hadn’t read the whole thread and have just seen the comment about it being means tested/taken advantage of. I’ve taken advantage myself by grabbing a tampon a few times.

The number of times I have given students tampons, tissues, painkillers etc out of my handbag - not generally because of poverty, but because I was the person that could help them at that time. Plus, empathy. Kindness.

@MitziK Great post. There is no way to means test something like this. If a girl comes to school without san pro for whatever reason, even if it's that her period came on suddenly and she wasn't prepared, she should be able to use the supplies provided. I doubt there will be hordes of teenagers scooping up armfuls of sanitary towels with glee and selling them on the black market.

But will it be means tested?

Good idea. Perhaps there can also be a 'flow inspector' (the girls could call her Aunt Flo like a character in The Handmaid's Tale) whose job is to decide what size of sanpro is to be used and how many can be allocated. With a tally on a chalkboard so the cheeky blighters don't try and abuse the system by using it daily while they're having their period.