A Basic Necessity: Menstrual products should be present in all of East’s bathrooms free of charge

Shifting in your seat, you discreetly text your friends a plea for help mid-class. Your period came early, and you just weren’t prepared. None of your friends have a pad or tampon you could use, so you’re forced to craft something with toilet paper or fill out a nurse’s pass, leaving you in discomfort until the nurse is able to see you or walk around for the rest of the day with toilet paper shedding over your newly-stained underwear.

Students have to do all of this just because your school doesn’t stock the bathroom with essential period products, free of charge.

Menstrual products should be present in all of East’s bathrooms free of charge, providing hygienic products to students so they can learn and feel comfortable at school. 

Paying for materials that you need to take care of your personal business in a public setting is unreasonable. It’s simply a basic human need. Just as schools don’t charge for your use of toilet paper, menstrual products need to also be free of charge. 

Schools are places for education, and it’s unreasonable to expect students to focus on a lesson when they can feel the blood soaking into their pants because they don’t have access to tampons or pads. This leaves students physically uncared for, and unable to focus on their education. At East, lack of menstrual products leaves students in 9 of the 11 restrooms uncared for.

The lack of provided products isn’t due to the disinterest of students, either. In an Instagram poll of 254 people, 93% agree that menstrual products should be offered free of charge in East’s facilities. 

In addition to the physical detriment caused by the lack of menstrual products, unavailability can cause emotional and, in a school setting, academic damage. The discomfort of bleeding through your pants and stress of your peers noticing the stain is enough to ruin a day, and distract from any learning. Students shouldn’t have to leave school due to the embarrassment of bleeding through.  

If someone on their period can’t access the necessary materials to care for themselves, they can face health concerns like reproductive and urinary tract infections which may result in future complications. Schools should have free menstrual products because it’s best for the students.

According to the Mayo Clinic, UTIs occur when bacteria enters the urinary tract through the urethra and spreads to the bladder. Women are more likely to contract a UTI due to their anatomy. When a woman isn’t able to clean herself, bacteria spreads more easily, increasing the risk of infection. UTIs can result in complications down the line in birth or in becoming pregnant, among other issues, according to WebMD. 

Scarcity of menstrual products in public schools proves adverse to academic success, according to East’s supplier of menstrual products, Aunt Flow. 

Nowadays, educational environments are shifting towards student-focused learning, catering learning towards student-specific needs but wet underwear isn’t conducive to a focused learning environment, nor is it hygienic. Period hygiene is a necessity, just as using the restroom is for everyone else. If anything, providing menstrual products for students and staff would benefit the productivity of students. 

To East’s credit, there are two restrooms in our building with free menstruation products available to students. But there are 11 restrooms for female-identifying students including the locker room and gender neutral restrooms — we can do better. 

According to school nurse Stephanie Ptacek, the current products available in 2/11 of the restrooms cost $150 per 500 tampons. Having the products provided in all of the restrooms would cost only $1650 in total. That equates to only 0.09% of the district’s $1,897,149 available under the Health Reserve (Fund 057), making it not only a feasible solution, but the obvious one. 

According to East bookkeeper Joan Burnett, items such as soap and toilet paper are provided by the district Operations and Maintenance Department, which has a separate budget. Because of this, providing period products wouldn’t disrupt the supply of other products necessary for physical hygiene. 

Additionally, per Week 7 of the 2023 session of the Kansas Health Institute HB 2009, sales tax exemptions are provided for diapers and period hygiene products, effective on July 7, 2023. Because of this, the price of products are lower, making it all the more reasonable for East to provide them for free.

Considering that these products provide physical comfort and care for many of our students there’s no valid reasoning behind East not providing products to students.

Students shouldn’t have to panic when their periods come early, they should have a solution: period products should be available, free of charge, in all of East’s restrooms.