Florida legislators are considering a bill that would ban certain conversations about health and wellness for children under fifth grade, including discussions about periods. Constituents have recently found out how surprisingly restrictive it is.
viral video of Florida delegates to discuss House Bill 1069The bill, which would limit all sex education to grades 6 through 12, was photographed last Wednesday as Rep. Ashley Gant told lawmaker Stan McClain, a bill supporter, that it would be a teacher and a teacher. It shows asking what it means realistically to the student.
“Does the bill ban conversations about the menstrual cycle? [menstruation begins] Between 10 and 15 years old. So if a girl has a menstrual cycle in her 5th grade or her 4th grade, does that mean she’s in a grade below 6th grade, so we’re barred from talking?” Gant asks. McClane replies, “It will.”
Limiting conversations about menstruation, a normal physical process, is very harmful, especially now.eggparents, educators, health care workers, and those who work with children and young people excessive communication about the function of menstruation Tarane Sirajian, M.D., a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist at NYU Langone, tells SELF. “Menstruation is a normal biological change that both girls and boys need to understand,” she says.[If you censor conversations around it]you’re going to set up big problems for young people [people] On issues of pregnancy and family planning. ”
As Gantt pointed out, simplifying menstruation to a process that is supposed to start after 6th grade automatically isolates those who start earlier. “A nine-year-old [who gets their first period] Dr. Silajian says. Also, many people start menstruating before his 6th grade (6th grade is usually when he is 12 from 11). According to data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), up to 10% of U.S. girls start menstruating by age 10.
Regardless of age, enforcing this law sends the message that girls’ bodies are indescribable. Jennifer Lincoln, MDShe is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist and executive director of Mayday Health, a nonprofit health education organization. It infuriates me in human science, we’re basically telling menstruating patients that they can’t talk about what’s going on with their bodies.”This needs to be undone.” It sets the stage for a lot of misunderstandings and psychological trauma.How these lawmakers sleep at night is incomprehensible to me.”
House Bill 1069 would indirectly teach school-aged girls that their bodies are somehow more controversial than those of boys, explains Dr. Silajian. In some parts of the world, she adds, this stigmatization has paid a heavy price. some girls They don’t go to school because of the social stigma of having their period start.
