In October of 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Menstrual Equity for All Act of 2021 into law. This law required all California public schools and colleges to provide free menstrual products in restrooms starting in the 2022-2023 school year. But this policy, while explicitly instituted by law, doesn’t extend to La Jolla High. As observed by countless students during last year and the first few months of this school year, the period product dispensers are consistently empty in every single bathroom on campus.
Period poverty, formally defined as the inadequate access to menstrual products, is the unfortunate reality faced by over 500 million individuals worldwide. According to USA Today, one in five girls in America misses school because of it, and La Jolla High’s carelessness towards restocking their dispensers isn’t helping these numbers. Sophomore Anabel Weinstein says, “the lack of period products in the school bathrooms not only disregards California law, but also worsens issues such as period poverty and menstrual stigma. Girls are provided with little to no sanitary protection when they most need it.”
While pads are available in the nurse’s office, leaving product dispensers empty forces students to walk all the way to the nurse in the scenario that they start their period at an inconvenient time, like during class or an important exam. This is incredibly disruptive and unjustifiable, as a normal bodily function should never stand in the way of one’s education. Elena Grilli, a junior, commented on this inexcusable situation, saying, “the school is responsible for providing necessary hygiene products. The fact that they aren’t is very disappointing.”
Undoubtedly, this is a pressing issue that the LJHS administration has turned a blind eye to for far too long. The taboos and stigmas society has created surrounding this normal bodily function do not change the fact that this is a problem, and it’s pervasive. It is high time that attention is brought to this issue, because as soon as people start talking about it, it becomes easier. After all, a period should only serve as the end of a sentence, not an education. Period.
