Our Issue: Prior Lake High School l does not provide menstrual products for their students. There are tampons that cost 25 cents, but no one brings change to the bathroom. Many compare periods to urinating or defecating, but people don’t pay for toilet paper. Students do not have to bring their own toilet paper to a public bathroom, so why should they have to bring their own menstrual products?

Additionally, irregular periods are most common in adolescent menstruators, so students don’t know when they should bring menstrual products to bathrooms. The stigma towards periods makes it difficult and even embarrassing for menstruators to ask their peers for change or menstrual products.  Going back and forth between the bathroom can also be interpreted as a class disruption or truancy.

Lastly, some students may not be able to afford bringing their own menstrual products to school, but this doesn't mean they don't deserve them! Not everyone is comfortable sharing their story or their circumstance, and they shouldn’t be forced to in order to obtain menstrual products. Thus, free menstrual products are necessary in all school bathrooms.