When students returned to Bonita Vista High’s (BVH) campus from spring break on April 2, there was a notable addition of free menstrual product dispensers in the girls’ bathrooms. The dispensers comply with the Menstrual Equality for All Act, which requires all Californian public schools—grades 6-12— to provide free menstrual products in school bathrooms by the start of the 2022-2023 school year.”
“It’s actually a law that the school must provide menstrual products for students. Not everyone can afford menstrual products because of “period poverty.” So having [it’s important to have] menstrual products available to all students so they don’t have to worry about that when they are at school,” BVH nurse Bernadette Currin said.
BVH students expect the dispensers to make feminine care products more accessible in a convenient manner. Sophomore Maya Delgado explains that without menstrual products in the bathrooms, it is challenging to be prepared for her menstrual cycle.
“I thought that it was a good idea because a lot of times having feminine products available is not really an option all the time. So having them available and free in the bathrooms will definitely help a lot of female students,” Delgado said.
Prior to the installation of the dispensers, free menstrual products were provided in Currin’s office as well as in select teachers’ classrooms such as Health teacher Shannon Bruce’s room. Moreso, Bruce explains that students did not face a major struggle when finding access to menstrual products, as some teachers handed them out.
“I have [menstrual products] in my room and other teachers have them in their room so I don’t feel a lot of kids had a really serious problem but I think it’s great that there’s now even more ways for them to get what they need,” Bruce said.
Although students had access to menstrual products, Bruce finds the dispensers to be more convenient for students. She shares that students will no longer have to walk to another location to obtain the products they need, when they are already accessible in the bathrooms.
“They don’t have to walk all the way to the health office or a specific teacher’s classroom. It’s always there if they need it which is helpful especially if they start their menstrual cycle in the bathroom,” Currin said.
Ultimately, Currin believes the dispensers are beneficial to students’ health and education. She explains that easy access to menstrual products is essential for students to focus on school rather than managing how to obtain pads or tampons.
“When they feel good they can focus on school and when they are not feeling well for whatever reason or if they have something that they are worrying about like access to a basic product that they need then they are distracted from their learning,” Currin said.
