A California high school teacher is providing students with period products. Photo / Getty Images
A California high school teacher is providing students with period products. Photo / Getty Images
A male school teacher in the US is under fire from fellow staff for providing his female students with period products.
In a post on Reddit, the high school teacher, 38, shared that he had started keeping a basket of pads and tampons in his classroom as some students were having "issues" accessing products, reports 7 News.
The father of two pays for the products out of his own pocket and says it's been welcomed by his students.
But a fellow teacher at the California school had concerns over his actions, claiming it was "inappropriate" for him as a male teacher to give pads and tampons to his female students.
The man said he didn't find it "weird" as periods are "natural".
"I'm a father of two daughters and I teach high schoolers here in California," he said.
"Since we started off the school year recently, I've been noticing our female students have been having some 'issues' and it's hard for them to have/find tampons/pads etc when they need it.
"As a father myself, I understand that those are essentials for woman. So same thing what I do with my daughters, I bought a bunch of tampons/pads and placed it in a basket in our class so our female students can grab one at any time and it's convenient for them.
"The whole class loves it. Nobody says anything and overall it's helpful for our students."
But while his students loved the initiative, a colleague wasn't so sure.
"Now my colleague teacher next-door whose name is Susan, she's like 60," he said.
"She thinks it's inappropriate that I have that for my female students and she told me it's weird because I'm a male.
"I don't find it weird or anything. Cause there isn't anything weird about it. It's natural and it happens.
Many applauded the initiative for helping remove the stigma around periods. Photo / Getty Images
"To make it convenient for my students I made the basket and they love it and I also refill the basket on a constant basis."
Meanwhile, thousands responded to the post applauding him for his actions - and many offered to donate products or money for the basket.
"I think it is really sweet. And it gives them the message that it is totally normal and nothing to be hidden and ashamed of," one user wrote.
"I wish you would have been one of my teachers. Every time I saw that basket, I would have felt love and acceptance pouring out of it.
"It is even cooler that you are a male teacher doing it by the way ... you are a great role model for the boys as well because it teaches them to have a relaxed and accepting attitude towards the women in their lives."
Another added: "You are normalising treating women's needs as an ordinary part of life. Susan is the one behaving inappropriately - by trying to create a problem where none exists."
