Time for a Change. Period.

Wouldn’t it be so inconvenient to live in a world where you had to pay for toilet paper in public bathrooms?

With around 1,700 students, with roughly 50% of them being female, BHS should be providing free and accessible products. This is like if you went to the bathroom, and you saw that you’d have to pay 25 cents for toilet paper: not only would it be annoying, but it would be majorly inconvenient. 

What would you do? Toilet paper is a necessity, you didn’t carry 25 cents that day, and you didn’t bring your own toilet paper. Would that be your fault? You can’t help needing the bathroom. If it’s unreasonable to charge for toilet paper, why is it so common to charge students for period products that should already be free? 

According to the 121a.212 bill of the Minnesota Statutes, period products are supposed to be free and accessible at all times to all students that may need them. With the move from a mainly cash paying society to a card paying society it is becoming more and more uncommon to carry change, especially as a high school student. 

 An anonymous student stated on the topic that, “Not only are the school’s period products inconvenient, they also are not worth the money you pay for them on the off chance you do bring change. All the bathrooms have machines, but they’re never stocked, and they’re always between 25 and 75 cents. Throughout the school day you can use anywhere from 1 – if you don’t have any after school activities – to around 3 or 4 – if you have after school activities – and depending on your flow.”

 The interviewee also stated that, “The period products look really old or they’re really cheap and flimsy. They don’t hold up and they don’t have different options for tampons, they just put a regular in and hope it’s good enough for everybody.” Yes they’re expensive but something this important should also be better quality.

This all comes back to the idea that period products need to be free at BHS, and not just for legal reasons, but humane ones. “It’s the same as toilet paper, it’s not optional, it’s needed.” said Anonymous.

 Schools like Sartell and Rockford both abide by the legislature, and carry a diverse range of good quality products. So why isn’t BHS following the standards and rules that have been set by our state government? Access to period products in schools is not optional; it’s essential.

For Reference: Statute 121A.212