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"Red ID card" for menstruating schoolgirls: protests against toilet rules in English schools

2023-02-25T18:21:04.468Z


The ban on going to the toilet during class annoys students. There was now a violent protest in a school in Cornwall: An exception was seen as an invasion of privacy.


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School toilet (icon image)

Photo: Becker Bredel/ imago images

Protests in British schools are increasingly being heard in the country's media.

Pupils defend themselves with a certain vehemence against regulations that they perceive as inappropriate.

Social media seems to play a role in spreading the protests.

The latest case was in the south-west of the country, in St Austell in Cornwall.

At Penrice Academy, a secondary school whose motto is "Pride, Respect, Success," students overturned tables, according to local media;

others rattled and climbed fences.

About 300 young people are said to have participated.

British newspapers spoke of "riots."

The reason for the protest was apparently that the school wants to enforce the rule that students should not go to the toilet during class, but only before and after school and during breaks.

Parents told local media that there had apparently been vandalism in the school toilets beforehand.

One exception to this rule for schoolgirls who are on their period was particularly harshly criticized.

They should therefore have their tutors give them a red ID card for the time of their period.

One mother was quoted as saying, "You should know that these rules single out individual students."

The red passports are “a ridiculous idea.

This is a complete invasion of young girls' privacy."

The school had defended the procedure.

The deputy headmaster showed that the girls cannot always anticipate the onset of their menstrual period and that this can also happen during class.

Therefore, they could keep the red ID cards in their school bags and use them when necessary.

"This system has proven successful," he said.

It is crucial that the process is based on trust.

Penrice Academy informed parents about the violent protests on Friday by email, quoted by »Cornwall Live«.

Accordingly, the protest was preceded by a post on a social network.

The students have "the right to express their opinions in a calm and safe manner." However, the behavior of some was "unacceptable".

We hope to find a solution that works for all sides.

Similar, albeit less violent, protests about toilet regulations have also been reported from other UK schools.

At a Leeds school, pupils refused to go to class after toilet doors were locked, ITV reported, while in Lincolnshire, parents complained about "prison rules" when one teacher or another had to be asked for permission.

Liverpool area newspapers reported protests against a school uniform rule at Rainford High School in St Helens.

According to this, schoolgirls were intercepted at the school entrance, and their skirt length was then measured by male teachers.

A video from the TikTok account »Feminism4Everyone« has been viewed more than 100,000 times.

Out of solidarity, boys with skirts also came to school.

Feb

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2023-02-25

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