Schoolgirl, 15, ‘stopped from using toilet while on period’

[WinnieSmith]

Schoolgirl, 15, ‘stopped from using toilet while on period’ then put in seclusion

metro.co.uk/2021/05/31/schoolgirl-15-stopped-from-using-toilet-while-on-her-period-14680071/

"...we do ask that students make every effort to do this during break and lunch time to minimise disruption to lessons..."

period pants provided for free by the school?
Hahahaha.
Teachers have to provide their own pencils today in a lot of schools.
I'd be laughed out of the place trying to get Wuka pants on the budget.

every school should have a considered policy on this that supports girls

I’d be a massive supporter of this as a teacher, parent of teenage girls and woman!

Period pants paid for 😂😂😂

No they aren't paid for. I pay for them. What a bizarre expectation.

They used to lock my school toilets during lesson!! There is nothing worse than being a young girl on your period paranoid you might leak!

every school should have a considered policy on this that supports girls

Most do.

Again this news story is not about the periods. The girl didn't get isolated for leaving the classroom to go to the toilet. Her behaviour afterwards led to the isolation.

It's not a bizarre expectation, it's pointing out the obvious. Teachers make it though the day because they have access to expensive sanpro products many many teenage girls do not.

It's not a bizarre expectation, it's pointing out the obvious. Teachers make it though the day because they have access to expensive sanpro products many many teenage girls do not

Some girls have really difficult periods. Most don’t. If their periods are very tricky, then a toilet pass is needed.

Again most teachers on this thread will let a girl go to the toilet mid lesson if she explains she is on her period. If she is verbally abusive then she may well land herself in isolation.
Most pupils have worked out that if they need to ask a teacher if they can leave the room, asking nicely helps.

But why hadn't she gone at break

Because periods don't run according to a school timetable.

There have been times in my life where I could predict my period starting to a day and time but even so, it was heavier at the start and I needed more frequent bathroom breaks because of it.

And other times when it could start almost without warning and once it did I had to stay home for two days because I've been bleeding so heavily I was soaking through pads every twenty minutes and passing clots the size of my thumb.

At the moment, I think because of my COVID vaccine, my periods are unpredictable, heavier, with more clots, and they have me feeling dizzy, sick, and with weirdly numb but still painful aching in my legs. I'm working from home at the moment but even at work, we can go to the toilet as and when we need to, whether that's three times in an hour or once all day.

I appreciate that kids can take advantage but being prevented from using the toilet when they need to, on the assumption that they can wait longer, should have gone earlier, or don't really need to go, it just isn't right.

@PearPickingPorky

Surely the solution is to have an individual loo in each classroom? Much cheaper than having full-time staff employed to escort children to the toilet.

Yes there would be an initial budget hit, but then schools seem to be able to find the money to refit all the loos to "gender neutral" over the summer term, despite children of both sexes not liking it, and despite the fact it makes the sexual assault and harassment of girls more likely.

Absolutely no reason why all new-build schools couldn't have this by default.

Sounds fantastic but there are 50 teaching rooms at my school. Who'd clean them?! School budgets are so tight.

Primary classrooms generally have toliets outside each yeargroup area.
And yet we still get vandalism, floor peeing competitions, hiding from doing work.

The reality is with a ratio of 30:2 there's no one to 'police' the children and sadly that means some are trustworthy and others not.
In primary we have the 'ask me again in five minutes rule. Generally if it's just a time wasting ploy they'll forget about it and if they're really desperate they'll give you the look and ask again. Stops working around year six though when they've learned to manipulate though.
As said by many teachers, they are well practised at using discretion and calling it. In this case I would bet the farm that the behaviour leading up to this all indicated it wasn't genuine. But that's not a good news story so...

Can we quell the myth that period pants are expensive. They don't have to be. Adsa had some for £3 and so do primark.

Most girls are able to deal with periods in school breaks.

Are they any good? I use Wuka and they're ok for about 2 hours each.
I've had enough of moon cups and am probably going to throw mine in the bin. Fed up of wrestling to get it in and bathroom looking like a murder scene!

I have cheeky wipe ones that I adore. My sister has used asda and primark and says they are good too. Another one slightly fed up of mooncups here too.

I've got Primark ones, great for days with light flow towards end of period, can do all day. Get a good few hours out of them on a heavier day at the start. Used with a menstrual cup as a "belt and braces" approach you'd have way more protection than with a standard pad or tampon.

I can't face using that mooncup again. I'm not convinced it's not some kind of torture device.
I'll have to settle for tampons and knickers not so eco approach.

Again this news story is not about the periods. The girl didn't get isolated for leaving the classroom to go to the toilet. Her behaviour afterwards led to the isolation.

I read it as the disrespect was her leaving the classroom without permission, the permission was denied.

I need to wee a lot more when I'm on my period, especially the first day or two, probably because everything in that area is over sensitive and sore anyway, and I'm bloated. It's a lot more uncomfortable to hold it then too, can make me feel sick and light-headed sometimes.

And I hated going during break time, the toilets were usually full, no teacher around to monitor behaviour and a great source of entertainment for boys apparently, who were 'just having a laugh' and should be 'ignored' - pretty hard to ignore a gaggle of teenage boys leering over your toilet cubicle.....
I would hope though, that those kind of things don't happen any more, as time's moved on, and if they're going to have a hard and fast rule about not using the toilet during lessons, they make sure they're a comfortable place to use and not the bullies paradise they were at my school.

I read it as the disrespect was her leaving the classroom without permission, the permission was denied.

Also just a likely is that the permission was never asked for in the first place.

@ChloeDecker

I read it as the disrespect was her leaving the classroom without permission, the permission was denied.

Also just a likely is that the permission was never asked for in the first place.

‘In this case, the student was asked to wait because students had only just had a break but, unfortunately, she left the classroom without permission. It was this behaviour that resulted in the internal seclusion.

I took it from this that she asked (says further up she was told to sit down when she stood and asked - which came from the mum, above is part of the head teachers statement) and was denied permission, and therefore the disrespect was that she left the room when the permission had been denied, rather than just got up and walked out without asking.

I completely understand that that is how you read it but I read it the other way.

The reason being is that the mum has left the statement vague and if the teen girl had really asked permission and was denied, it is more likely the mum would have included this because it adds to the complaint and the news story.

The fact that this part of the event has been left out means I think it is just as likely the teen girl just got up and started to walk out (which happens in some schools more than you think).

I appreciate though, that you could be right. It’s just an odd thing for the mum to deliberately leave out of a news story such as this.

Yes, the "disrespect" was her leaving the classroom without permission, after she asked to go to the loo and was told no.

When I was at secondary school I used to black out because my periods were so heavy and painful. I have always (still do) experienced irritable bowel symptoms for a few days prior to and during my period. The cramping makes me feel so unwell. I went to the GP multiple times and they never did anything to help until I insisted on going on the cocp.

I've flooded at work, including staining a chair in a board room, and I've bled onto car seat fabric in my DH's company car. Luckily my DH understands that even though I went before getting in the car, even though I use super plus tampons and period pants these things happen to me.

The answer to the behavioural issues around toilet breaks in secondary school to not lie in blaming girls for not being able to not cope with their periods for 2 hours. While the specifics of this particular case may be vague and anything could have happened here, it's exposed how many people believe young girls just getting to grips with menstruation should have it all organised, nailed and somehow have succeeded in getting understanding and sympathy from their gp - something many grown women haven't managed in 30+ years of trying...

But a girl who, like yourself, has such heavy flooding would have a pass. So they would be able to go out of the classroom whenever needed.

Who would have given me the pass? My school had no such thing without medical evidence, the GP didn't think there was anything amiss with what I described and I would have rather died than talk to new people about my periods repeatedly.

Your head of year, in nearly every school I worked in. Only one that was different was the small private boarding school - there it would have been the house mistress who would have done so, in conjunction with the school nurse. No need for a GP's letter. Just a call from a parent, or in the cases of kids with totally disengaged parents, a conversation between pupil and teacher (any) that would then be passed on to the appropriate person.

This has been the standard procedure in every school I worked in over a twelve year teaching career. Girls who needed the extra allowances made to manage their periods could have them. But the general rule for everyone was no toilet breaks in class (for all the reasons outlined in my previous posts).