Primary school children told boys can have periods too
Children have been told boys can have periods too in a new school sex education program designed to become more inclusive for transgender and non-binary students.
A UK council approved the new curriculum to be rolled out in lessons, in a bid to tackle stigma surrounding menstruation.
Primary school students at the Brighton & Hove City Council schools will now be taught menstruation must be inclusive of ‘all genders’ and “trans boys and men and non-binary people may have periods”.
The Sun reports as part of the move to be more inclusive, school toilets will also be fitted with bins for used pads and tampons to allow trans pupils to access the lavatory they feel more comfortable using.
Approving the initiative, the council said it was also “important for all genders to be able to learn and talk about menstruation together”.
“Our approach recognises the fact that some people who have periods are trans or non-binary,” the council spokesman added.
The council spokesperson said through effective education on menstruation and puberty it hopes to ensure no young person feels shame in asking for a pad or tampon inside or outside of school if they need them.
The move comes after reports that a high school in the district had 40 pupils who “do not identify as [the] gender presented at birth”.
The move to alter the sex education guidelines to include trans and non-binary children has been described as “insanity” by Tory MP David Davies.
“Learning about periods is already a difficult subject for children that age, so to throw in the idea girls who believe they are boys also have periods will leave them completely confused,” the politician argued.
Free tampons at Australian school toilets
In an Australian-first policy of its type, Labor is promising free pads and tampons in public primary and secondary school bathrooms.
“I don’t want girls and young women to go through what can often be very embarrassing, very challenging [situations] for them,” Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said last month.
