Florida Republicans Are Trying to Ban Kids From Talking About Periods at School

glamour.com:

. Constituents recently found out just how alarmingly restrictive it could be.A viral  of Florida state representatives discussing , which would limit all instruction around sex to grades 6 through 12, was taken last Wednesday and shows Representative Ashley Gantt asking Representative Stan McClain, a proponent of the bill, about what it would mean, realistically, for teachers and students.“Does the bill prohibit conversations about menstrual cycles?

Because we know that typically [menstruation begins] between 10 and 15. So if little girls experience their menstrual cycle in fifth grade or fourth grade, will that prohibit conversations for them, since they are in a grade lower than sixth grade?” Gantt asks.

McClain replies, “It would.”Restricting conversations , a normal bodily process, would be incredibly damaging, especially now: Post-Roe, parents, educators, health care workers, and others who work with children and young adults should be overcommunicating about the function of menstruation, , a board-certified ob-gyn at NYU Langone, told Self. “Menstruation is a normal biologic change, and girls and boys should understand it,” she says. “[If you censor conversations around it] you’re going to set up a big problem for young [people] around the issues of pregnancy and family planning.”As Gantt pointed out, simplifying menstruation to a process that’s supposed to start during or after sixth grade will automatically isolate people for whom it starts earlier. “The nine-year-old [who gets their first period] is going to feel stigmatized and alone going to school,” Dr.

Shirazian says. And many people start menstruating before sixth grade (at which point students are usually 11 to 12 years old).