Recently Horizon’s girls’ bathrooms have gotten refills on the pads and tampons. While there were already pads in the bathrooms, we recently got tampons, and signs stating that there were more products in the nurses office. What happened to get this change?
According to a 2024 Colorado study from Justice Necessary on teen period poverty, 80% of teens have missed their classes due to their period, 59% of teens have admitted to not being able to afford period products, and 72% had used replacements for period products in public areas. Of the replacements a few stand out, 94% stating they used toilet paper, 62% stating they used napkins, and 27% stating they used rags or other clothes.
Period poverty is extremely prevalent and can be devastating for individuals who experience it. Due to the taboo nature of the topic, it can be embarrassing to ask another person for period products and to admit you can’t afford them. Students aren’t always prepared for one reason or another, whether it be due to the randomness of periods, the financial situation of the student, or just unexpectedly running out. Thankfully, the state passed a bill to ensure student access to period products.
Bill HB24-1164, Free Menstrual Products to Students, was actually effective Aug. 7 of last year. The bill says, “By June 30, 2028, all local education providers… are required to provide free menstrual products to students in all applicable student bathrooms in all applicable school buildings.” In November Adams 12 rolled out the products in their schools.
Our District Nurse Erin Samaras also states, “with the bill it might be attached to a grant, so it’s not costing us anything.”
The reason we had pads originally is due to a student-led initiative about three years ago, thankfully giving us the facilities to implement the change with no problem. The bill also makes schools tell students any other places they can find feminine products, which for Horizon is the nurse’s office.
There are unfortunately concerns of vandalism. Our Head Custodian Sean Houston mentioned a moment where boys’ teams destroyed the feminine product holders and stuck feminine products all over the walls. Houston has, “already had to replace two dispensers and… there’s two more that [he has] to replace that [he] has on order.” Aside from that there’s no real impact on the custodians’ jobs.
How do students feel? Due to how sensitive the topic is, an anonymous source said that while she’s always prepared there was once where “it was just in my backpack and I couldn’t go and grab it.” She also raised concerns of vandalism, citing that when the student-led initiative started there would never be feminine products due to the vandalism.
A senior at Horizon, Allie Newberry, also really loves the period products. She’s usually prepared but there’s been a few times where she’s forgotten to restock her bag. Newberry states, “it’s really helpful, even when it’s something as personalized as pads and tampons.” Her only wish is that they would provide more options, specifically for tampons.
Going back before high school, students had to survive middle school, which thankfully many hold feminine products in their bathrooms. Students reported that their middle schools provided feminine products before the bill was even introduced. Specific middle schools include Rocky Top and Shadow Ridge Middle Schools, with Rocky Top providing them before Newberry went there and Shadow Ridge started providing them around five years ago.
Thankfully, however, the vandalism problem had decreased significantly. Since we started with pads being provided there have barely been any incidents with students sticking them on walls in recent months. The issue now is that students pick the plastic off of the feminine product holders. There is hope this behavior will go away soon as it did before so we can enjoy clean bathrooms with these ever important products.
