In the Blog
Menstruation/Discrimination
I can’t even believe this. In New York, Tri-Valley High School students are not allowed to carry bags or purses at school - unless they have their periods. If they do have a purse, it’s possible a security guard will ask them if they’re menstruating: Samantha Martin, 14, had a small purse with her that day.
That’s why the security guard, ex-Monticello cop Mike Bunce, asked her The Question.
She says he told her she couldn’t have a purse unless she had her period. Then he asked, “Do you have your period?”
Unbelievable. Thankfully, the girls aren’t taking this kind of harrassment lightly:
Girls have worn tampons on their clothes in protest, and purses made out of tampon boxes. Some boys wore maxi-pads stuck to their shirts in support.
After hearing that someone might have been suspended for the protest, freshman Hannah Lindquist, 14, went to talk to Worden. She wore her protest necklace, an OB tampon box on a piece of yarn. She said Worden confiscated it, talked to her about the code of conduct and the backpack rule – and told her she was now “part of the problem.”
School safety (both of the concealed weapons and “you could trip over a bag” variety) has been cited as the reason behing bag bans and a Sept. 19 “bag sweep” that staff performed. Although not a specific school rule, the rumor was that it was okay to carry a purse if you were menstruating - were they checking bags to see if the girls actually had tampons and pads? Kim Martin, Samantha’s mom, said she feels like the district is calling her daughter a liar and backing Bunce.
“I don’t want him to be able to talk to girls like that,” she said. “They’re kids, but they’re still citizens. They have rights.”
