Menopause information in schools

[sharksarecool]

I'm early 40s and pre-menopausal, but menopause is appearing more and more on my radar, as I hear older women mention it, and as it's discussed on here. It's beginning to occur to me that, despite menopause being right around the corner for me, I know almost nothing about it, and it's dawning on me that it's quite a big deal.

When I was in school more than 20 years ago, we learned all about changes that would happen to our bodies during puberty and pregnancy, but nothing at all about menopause. I'm now a secondary school teacher, and I don't recall ever seeing any PSHE teaching materials on menopause. Why is this subject not a mandatory part of PSHE teaching in schools? I know it's a long way off, but the whole point is about teaching things before they're needed. We teach them about things like managing a household budget and saving for a home, but not about menopause.

When I Ieft school, all I'd picked about menopause was something about hot flushes and mood swings, all packaged in quite a sexist "grumpy old woman"-type way. 25 years later, I still don't know much more. Friends have mentioned it being worse than being pregnant, or like going through reverse puberty, but as to the specific details, I still know virtually nothing. How can this have happened?

As a teenager, I remember my mum telling me how her generation were given no information about periods or sex, and that many girls who got their period were absolutely terrified of it and thought they were dying. So it's great that girls are now have plenty of information about changes to their body during puberty, but wouldn't it be great if my daughter's generation could be the first one that knows accurate factual information about menopause rather than have it all shrouded in mystery? Surely early education on this subject would also help remove the taboo around it, and increase tolerance and understanding of older women.

Is anyone aware of any sort of campaign existing, which I could support? Or know how I might go about setting something like this up?

It's a good point, I knew about it before I'd even started my periods c/o woman's hour.

Actually I'd been thinking more about the staff, mostly female. A friend in an entirely different profession, mostly male dominated, had some work run workshops around menopause. Which struck me as something schools could facilitate for staff under wellbeing.

I bet half the 20 somethings teaching kids haven't a clue what to expect. And changes can start happing from 40s onwards.

I've had to educate myself recently as I've had some issues after my second child.

But a friend who's been investigated for constant bleeding or very variable periods and queried peri menopause was told by 2 consultants that she wasn't, mid 40s, and yet much of what she's experiencing does seem to be something around the peri menopause.

There's a lack of clarity from gps (though my Gp recently did talk about peri etc, I'm 44.)

The menopause support network on fb is brilliant, I found it through a mner.

Besides which, the kids are likely to have menopausal mothers - it might make them realise that there is something physiological going on with thier mum.

My son came home and announced that he thought I was menopausal... as they had a few lessons about it in sex Ed and biology year 10/11

I don't know of any campaigns, but just saying that I do agree with you.

Schoolgirls learn plenty about puberty and what to expect, but little (if anything) about what to expect when it all goes into reverse in the run-up to the menopause.

I am peri-menopausal now at 54 and have had problems with very heavy and flooding periods for which an investigation is now underway for the second time in 18 months (different gynaecologist this time, as I lost confidence in the first one).

Women need to know what to expect, what the spectrum of symptoms can be, what is normal and what is not. No harm giving information like this to teenage girls. After all, one of life's few certainties is that they will go through it.

I got a lot of my own information from what happened to my own mother and from bits I have read online over the last few years. Nothing from my schooldays.

In principle, yes I agree. But as someone with many years experience of teaching sex ed, I have to say that teenagers will not be interested in learning about it. For them it is something that is many years away and not relevant to them - even those who have experience of women who are at that stage in their life in their own families.

Students are taught about finance. They really are not interested in talks about mortgages and pensions - it's just not on their radar at the moment. Phone contracts, apps, paying for stuff on video games - yes, that interests them. Even in the sixth form they don't especially want to know about uni finance - even those who is will be a reality for in just a few months time.

I pity the poor sods who have to teach the menopause to a class of disinterested teenagers. I'm not saying it's not important information, but just being realistic. They will not be listening.

They are taught nothing in school, or rather my yr11 DD hasn't. I've had to have stern words about her taking the piss and about her mates sharing shitty YouTube videos.

That said, it isn't a big deal for every woman, but everyone should be educated about it - especially GPs. It's insane that something that will affect 50% of the population isn't discussed.
There is a menopause board here at Mumsnet, OP, if you hadn't realised. Although the only problem with it, is like lots of parts of the internet, you only hear about women who are having a difficult time. My only menopausal issue is the bloody brain fog.

Women can research the menopause when they are of an age where it is relevant. Teenagers don’t need to know. It doesn’t matter to them.

I learned about menopause in a kind of surface biological way in school. I knew it happened and why. My mom was an older mother and a hcp so was the one of really explained it properly, especially when she was going though it herself. Her close friends were very open with me about their health but that's our culture - we're not British and I think people are more private here.

Tbh I don't know how much more would have stuck at the time. I think there needs to be better education on it but not sure if school is where to do it? It's almost too far into the distance for teenagers to really absorb.

The other thing to consider is that for many of the girls in the class you are talking about something that may not happen for them for another 30 years. Things may have changed dramatically by then. New medical advances and therapies. The information we give them now will likely be very out of date by then.

I would not add menopause to primary/secondary school lessons because it’s not relevant or useful to the children at all. In addition, anything you tell them will be 25-30yrs out of date by the time they reach menopause themselves. Schools only have children for a limited number of hours and I’d rather see the time spent on consent in relationships for example....another area that schools are under-teaching.

It is better that women receive information about menopause when they are approaching it from the GP surgery. The NHS does a well check on all 40yr olds. That’s the time to give a woman the latest information on menopause and give her guidance on how to read up further on it. Anyone younger than 40 that goes through premature menopause due to unusual medical conditions should be given this information as and when it applies to them as part of their medical care.

I doubt teenagers would pay much heed, and certainly wouldn’t retain the information for 20 or 30 years, for when it became relevant! Can any of you in your fifties recall much of high school biology?
To a teenager, 50 is impossibly old - they cannot imagine themselves ever being that ancient, let alone consider the practical implications!

Have to say, I also agree with a pp that workshops around menopause matters could be run in schools and would be informative for both students and school staff.

My mother was a teacher in a secondary school. By pure luck, it was only once that she had to go home because of it. However she does remember having to explain to the (male) deputy head that she would have to leave that lunchtime because she had flooded through her clothes and was continuing to flood down her legs so she could no longer be in front of her classes. He understood fairly quickly and was kind about it, but he didn't immediately grasp what she meant.

I think information about it should be freely available to both students and staff (male and female). It could help.

I'm torn. So much is shoehorned into the school curriculum as it is. Given the number of teenage girls hitting puberty and developing eating disorders, self harm, ROGD etc, I'd hate to present the menopause as yet something else to fear about being a woman.
Having said that, I am in favour of greater awareness and sensitivity - just not sure that schoolchildren are the best target audience other than as part of the factual science curriculum.

I think it's more important that the medical establishment take perimenopause & menopause seriously, and that women get help when they need it. I went to my GP after a year of crippling hot flushes, only to be told laughingly "our doctors don't do the menopause" and fobbed off with a patronising 30 year old nurse manager. After that experience it took me 6 more years of constant hot flushes, anxiety & suicidal thoughts before I approached the issue again with a doctor (encouraged by my adult daughter, who saw what I was going through) - luckily this time I was able to attend a specialist clinic and a sympathetic female GP, and I got some proper medical help. The GP told me she has real difficulty getting her colleagues to take menopause seriously, and no-one is interested in providing specialist care, despite the fact that half the population experiences menopause and many of them will struggle with some very challenging health issues.

In principle, yes I agree. But as someone with many years experience of teaching sex ed, I have to say that teenagers will not be interested in learning about it. For them it is something that is many years away and not relevant to them - even those who have experience of women who are at that stage in their life in their own families.

Yes, and they are also a generation who are used to having vast quantities of information about literally anything they want to know about (and plenty of things they don't) at their fingertips on the internet. As do adult women of course.

I agree that public knowledge about menopause and perimenopause is very low, but I can't see teenagers being remotely interested in it when it won't affect them for decades and they won't be able to do anything about it until it does.

I agree that workshops for women in their 30s would be more useful. But tbh I'm not sure I would have bothered going to one! I think the main area that would improve experience of menopause for women would probably be for GPs to have more knowledge and training in it tbh, judging by the threads on here about women's experiences of being dismissed and fobbed off.

I've got 2 teens at high school and I'd rather they didn't learn about the menopause at school. Honestly, it's 30 years in the future for them - they'd just not be interested. Not to mention that women in schools at the moment have enough on their plates to be getting on with - chucking menopause into the mix would just become another thing to endure taunts and bullying about. I can see it backfiring on female staff who have to deal with classroom disruption "what's wrong with you miss, is it the menopause?".

If we want people to take menopause more seriously then we start with ourselves. I've seen a great shift towards menopause education in the last 5 years and it's being driven by women who need to know, who then share with other women. From Facebook groups, to Davina McCall talking about it on her podcast, to workplaces having open conversations - this is where the knowledge filters out from.

I'm currently educating my own children with my clothes on/clothes off antics as well as, Where did I put my glasses? etc..

I just don't think that they need this at school. They have so much to take in already with their bodies changing, their hormones erupting, worrying about when they'll get their first kiss etc...the menopause is a lifetime away for them.

I think we need some kinds of continuing education which people can access at appropriate times in their life.

So financial education for young adults, parenting skills/children's development, menopause, diy courses, gardening etc.

These could either be organised through larger workplaces or as evening classes/short courses. As a social good, they should be pretty cheap to access.

what's wrong with you miss, is it the menopause?".

My point is that it might lead teens to be more understanding, as atm they do take the piss with comments like the above (and worse).

But I also take the point from a pp that in a limited time slot, more work on relationships, consent and I'd like to add work on spotting red flags and dealing with abuse in relationships.

I'd personally favour more positivity about breastfeeding than menopause in actual school RSE / pshe lessons as it's not included and that's been cited as an issue re both breastfeeding rates and also how males treat women re breasts.

Breasts are very sexualised and the fact bf is never mentioned is appalling.

I am not aware of any resources but actually think it should be covered as part of PSHE lessons. Even if the knowledge may be out of date in some aspects, a good chance that a teenager's mother may be about to enter the menopause, especially with many mothers being in their thirties. Or as noted above, teachers or other women a child meets.

Create understanding just as should be the case with breastfeeding.

My point is that it might lead teens to be more understanding, as atm they do take the piss with comments like the above

I think the kind of kids who are going to take the piss about things like that are unlikely to change their ways as a result of a PSHE session or two tbh.

I do think there could be some pods take issues, at the same time it's worth somehow covering it for long term health knowledge, also for staff to be honest. This is a petition for it: @sharksarecool

www.change.org/p/rt-hon-elizabeth-truss-mp-make-menopause-matter-in-healthcare-the-workplace-and-education-makemenopausematter?fbclid=IwAR0rDLS3H41zmmZ4zNpWfJWJKGDEMjwvEQWgrLpdC2fFKcgyzIUs2jEHbnI

*Piss take