Editorial

4 — Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021 — North Pointe EDITORIAL

Most people who menstruate would designate it as nothing but a chore. However, feminine hygiene products are labeled as luxury items, making them more expensive and less accessible to everyone that deals with menstration. With the recent removal of the tampon tax in Michigan, feminine products are becoming more accessible, but still not everyone has access to them.

Though North does provide supplies for anyone in need, students are generally unaware of where they can go to retrieve feminine hygiene products in times of need. Along with not knowing where to go, with the stigma surrounding the topic, many are embarrassed to even ask for help when they need it. Unfortunately, students can’t control when they start their menstrual cycle, and are not always prepared during school.

Currently the only places to find feminine hygiene products are the front office, union, counseling center, the ARK and select classrooms that choose to provide their own supply. All feminine supplies are on the first floor, with the exception of some teachers throughout the school. If a student is unprepared at school, the current standard is that said student has to travel from wherever they are to the first floor or test their luck and hope that a teacher on their floor has a stash. Though some teachers go above and beyond to provide feminine products, most students don’t know which teachers provide this basic necessity, and are not comfortable asking.

Ignorance mixed with misunderstanding Stop the stigma around feminine hygiene Calendars are not “one size fits all” has led to a society in which menstruation is embarrassing and private, rather than seen as a basic human function. As a result of this MY TURN By Julia Liagre INTERN ignorance, menstruation has become a taboo Christianity isn’t the only topic when in reality it is completely normal. religion. Christmas, Easter and Now that feminine products are more affordable, Good Friday aren’t the only it should be easier to make products more religious holidays. Yet, each year accessible to girls that need them. We have masks and sanitizing stations in every classroom available to all students, and though that may be a little excessive for feminine hygiene products, there should be more designated spots on every floor that students can easily access feminine hygiene products when they need them. If a student is on the third floor, it may take them close to 10 minutes to retrieve a product and go back to class. Administration rightfully stresses the importance of being in class, so students should have necessary items in a closer vicinity. we get these days off of school, and even get over a week’s rest during Christmas. The school disguises this by giving it the title “winter break”, but it’s no coincidence it falls over Dec. 25 each year. Many schools fail to acknowledge the several students who celebrate holidays the academic calendar doesn’t recognize. One of my closest friends in Muslim, and multiple times per year she is faced with a decision when an Islamic tradition falls on a school day. Should she turn away from her religion and attend school instead of practicing the sacred holiday? Or should she miss school for several days, Additionally, information on where students get left behind, and then have to make up the work can go should be readily available without them and teach herself the material she missed? It’s a having to ask. choice so unfair, she shouldn’t even have to consider Menstruation is stigmatized in society which it. It doesn’t make sense that she’s forced to make leads to discomfort of the topic in schools as this hard decision when it’s already been made in well, but this can be changed if we choose to our favor for the rest of us. Just because she doesn’t have the difficult conversations. Along with destigmatizing the topic, Michigan has taken the first step in making feminine hygiene products more accessible to everyone, and this change should be reflected in schools. fall in the majority doesn’t mean her beliefs aren’t just as valuable. Days missed for religious holidays should not be counted towards absences, as none of the rest of us have to worry about showing up to North on Christmas. Additionally, proper assistance should be given to students when they return to school to catch them up to speed—it’s not as if they wanted to fall behind. Not only does the school calendar ignoring other religions pose questions in regards to attendance, but it also raises moral concerns. Children growing up knowing their holidays get disregarded as they watch 10 days off of school be granted to their peers during Christmas, could likely be made to feel that their traditions aren’t as worthy or important. We wonder why people are so hesitant to express their differences, but at the same time, force them to grow up in a society where it feels like you’ll be penalized for those same differences. Students who celebrate holidays like Yom Kippur, Eid or Pavarana should be granted the same leisure and feel equally as seen as those who COURTESY OF CHLOE HARB celebrate Christian holidays like Christmas.

SENIOR JACOB CRAWFORD: “I think teachers

should be a bit more understanding when students turn in late work and give full credit on late assignments because it takes the pressure off of students, and allows them to complete their work to their best understanding rather than turning in work they completed, but don’t understand.” TEACHER JENNIFER WEISBRODT: “I think that with any grading system there needs to be hope, and when we have a grading system that doesn’t provide that, I think that needs to be changed.”

“It would be nice to have our assignments weighed more so if we were to do bad on a test or quiz it gives us more cushion and it will not tank our grade.” SENIOR ANNELIESE LECHNER: “A change that I would make would probably be to give students the option to increase their grades if they scored poorly on a test and have the opportunity from their teacher to make up some of the points they lost.”