A BLOODY MESS

If you wander into the women’s bathroom you’ll notice a silver tin on the wall with pads and tampons for 25 cents, and I don’t know why they're on the wall when they are all empty. In my opinion we should have period products for free because we didn't choose to have a period and the fact we have to pay for this at school is shocking. Coming to school I feel like I should be provided with things to help me personally. I sent out a survey to the student body and teachers to see what they think about the issues. 

OUT WITH THE VENDING MACHINES; PHOTO BY JAIDYN CALKINS

One question was “Have you ever been in a situation where you needed a period product but didn’t have one?” 73.2% said yes and 26.8% said no. I asked them to talk about stories if they felt comfortable and I got some interesting responses. One of them stuck out to me and it stated, “I needed one and tried to pay from the machine but nothing came out.” Something I don’t understand is why have them for the public when you can’t get anything out of it. This needs to be changed because so many people have this issue. One student said, “I went to the bathroom and my period started and I didn’t have a tampon. I went back to class, got a tampon, and had to re-ask to go to the bathroom and explain why. It would've been helpful to have period products in the bathroom.” A student got into trouble for taking too long out of class because they had to walk to the office to get a tampon. “I was bleeding so heavily that I bled through my pad and left marks on the chair. I didn’t have any pads and neither did my teachers. I felt so ashamed.” People should not feel ashamed about a period or leaving marks, some people can’t control it. It hurt to read that story and all these other ones knowing their embarrassment because I’ve been there also. The school can make us feel more comfortable, safe, and cared for by just putting small bins of different sized tampons and pads, also making sure teachers are stocked in their classrooms. 

Also different schools like West High have a period product club that donates to the school by placing bins with period products and other hygiene products. Over half of the people taking the survey said they would donate to this, so I say we make it happen. It’s something that won’t go away so we might as well start now and keep it going. Help us end the struggle of not having products at school so everyone can feel comfortable.