People across the country have been praising a group of seventh-grade students who had a tampon-themed protest at the school in response to the principal’s refusal to provide free women’s products in the campus washrooms.
Ilyse Hogue, 50, the president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, shared a post on Twitter telling how her friend’s daughter was a part of the tampon protest.
The principal of the school, who argued that the teenagers will ‘abuse the privilege,’ has been criticized by a number of social media users including a number of parents.
The tweet by Ilyse that brought the matter to social media has been re-posted quite a number of times.
“My friend’s 7th grader goes to a school where the kids organized for free tampons in the bathroom,” the mother-of-two wrote.
“The male principal said no because they would ‘abuse the privilege. The kids decided to stage a cookie protest. Behold the tampon cookies!”
So far, the tweet has gathered more than 24,000 likes from people nationwide. While some responses to the post are sarcastic, others point out the bitter side of things.
“Looking forward to learning more about the tampon black market these kids would apparently embezzle school provided tampons to supply,” a social media user commented.
“I’m sure his response is based on his experience of kids abusing the privilege of access to free toilet paper and soap,” said another.
A woman encouraged the movement, saying: “Good for them. These kids give me so much hope.”
A comment that got quite some appraisal from the Twitter users said: “Maybe the girls should demonstrate that they are not taking advantage of free tampons by returning them to the principal when they are finished with them.”
Men were equally unhappy about the principal having such a demeaning narrative.
“Kids would take advantage of having basic hygiene products? Is he afraid girls are just gonna start having periods for fun,” one man asked.
Surprisingly, some people took the principal’s side.
One such lady said there was a possibility of a ‘pranks a plenty’ with the free sanitary products. The woman, however, did not get any appreciation and was condemned by other users.
Another woman said: “Our male principal okayed a personal hygiene pantry [two years] ago. It has been appreciated and not abused.
“We didn’t ask before we set up a sharing shelf in the girl’s restroom this month (pads, tampons and sample size deodorant). Also appreciated by the girls.
“I [was] in the restroom restocking the shelf when some guest students came in. They were excited to start a similar shelf in their school.
“If we give the kids an opportunity, they will be kind and generous.”
Another woman shared the point of view of the principal of her daughter’s school, saying: “My daughter went to a small, private Catholic school for a time (we’re not Catholic) and when it was suggested that a small cabinet be installed in the women’s restroom for period products, the head master vetoed it because, ‘The younger students might have questions.’”
Replaced!