Schools providing Sanitary protection

Comms69 wrote: »

That’s unfortunate isn’t it. Off you pop down to court.

Seems rather expensive for the organisation spending so much money on clogging up the courts with applications for CCJs in respect of a single tampon.

Comms69 wrote: »

There you go then. Free drugs for anyone who wants them.

As for the other three, youve missed my point. Yes we provide all that; and yet people still can’t afford a pack of tampons... my question is why not?

You clearly have no concept of what it is like to bleed copiously for days.

You mention drugs - not all women take drugs and there is an initial
choice. Someone mentioned that we all 'poop'. Very few people do so continuously for 4 or 5 days. Thankfully, most of us have control of our bowels.

I believe that shaving gear is VAT free, but men are not obliged to shave. A beard and a weekly trim with a scissors is fine.

No wonder so many women called periods 'the curse'.

A low-income family with two daughters and mother could struggle, maybe not always, but even so. Begrudging a little help?

Just thought it might be helpful from a former female paupers point of view

I remember thinking of periods as having the monthly runs.
Stomach aches for the first 3 days at least ,huge rise in body temperature, slamming headaches and sitting in the pongy dampness for most of a week. They would appear out of sequence often and leave me unprepared. PE teachers whilst female for the girls lessons, were generally the women who as girls had experienced the lightest 3 day periods and no other symptoms I think because they had a 'pull yourself together and get on with it ' attitude.

Girls from backgrounds like my own were the ones who made their own pads using toilet paper .I used to wrap an existing pad for the first 3 days and unwind and flush the gory mess as the day progressed. However I expect there were girls who's entire period was handled with wadges of bogroll from public toilets. (My mother did provide a packet of pads once a month but a girl can easily use 5 on day 1 and 2, then 3 a day thereon).

Girls cant always cope with tampons. They are tricky to insert and for some girls,they dont stay put. My mother handed me a thing about 6 inches long and encased in cardboard when I asked her about them.

One company used to send a free pack to try out if you wrote to them . Mine were guarded like gold to use for my beloved school swimming because one tampon is enough for the lesson and it was only once a week so a pack of freebies for me meant I could still have that pleasure for the whole year and they did send me a further packet for free a second year.

Not changing the pads or tampons often enough can lead to soreness and smells at best and infection and even death from infection untreated at worst.

Incidentally my mother also received a uniform grant once for me in 1st year secondary, once in 4th and I wore the 1st year gear up until 4th year. The grant covered a blazer and tie and skirt in 1st and a blazer and I think jumper in 4th .I wore the skirt until it was ridiculous and another pupil gave me her NEW skirt because she hated it and her mother had bought her another. My 'blouses' were hand me downs of my brother's who had in turn inherited them from my dad or the jumble sale.

When I found a paper round, my earnings were used to buy sanitary pads and new plimsoles and all the other little things that I felt would make life more normal. I didnt get one till I was 15 because almost all the paper shops would only employ boys despite it being 'illegal' to employ based on gender.

My father was out of work for almost the whole of my secondary school life and when he did have a job , most of his income was gambled and smoked. Mum used to clean for various ladies and I think we lived off her earnings.
Anyway the point being...If there had been a way to have sanitary pads using coupons given to girls at school who wanted them, it would have been so much a happier time. Most girls would not have needed them or wanted them. If the pads were in some way different, eg, had a name across them , it would discourage unscrupulous parents from bullying their daughters into procuring sellable items for them.

Or if there were some lessons in which the girls were shown and helped to make the reusable pads themselves it would be a big help .

As a taxpayer, I expect state schools to be safe, calm, displined centres of learning where pupils can concentrate solely on their education. That includes learning how to interact in a civilised society as well as academic qualifications. I don't mind paying for nutritious hot lunches (with cutlery and enforced table manners), decent toilets, proper security, extra help for those who struggle, viable options for those with a more vocational bent, and yes free sanitary products. Older pupils can discuss the budget for this in citizenship lessons, so they're fully aware of how difficult decisions have to be made.

I don't want to live in a semi-literate non-aspirational society where people associate education with bullying or embarrassment, or as a luxury for those who can pay for it. Scrimp on schooling and you create many more expensive social issues further down the line.