With seemingly endless possibilities for student activism on a vast array of topics ranging from climate change to gun control, the collective student voices in Montgomery County won a victory for girls everywhere on December 3 when the Board of Education passed a resolution to install menstrual hygiene product dispensers in all middle and high school bathrooms to further Montgomery County Public Schools’ Be Well 365 initiative.
Katana Yu, a senior at Walter Johnson High School and a member of the Student Member of the Board (SMOB) Advisory Council (SAC), said that the issue has been advocated by students for years.
“People bring up the issue around the SMOB election season. Candidates have promised this in the past, but our current SMOB Nick Asante finally passed it,” Yu said.
She stated that the effort to advocate for the issue has been “more of a team effort than anything else” and that by finally passing it, “it helps to maintain their [female students’] dignity as well as level the playing field for girls of lower socioeconomic status.”
This issue has been important for many students to advocate for during the SMOB election season. Students who have been elected SMOB, such as Nate Tinbite and his successor Nick Asante, ran on a platform ensuring that menstrual hygiene products were available for free in all girls bathrooms.
However, student activism is not solely limited to Montgomery County Public Schools. According to the Wall Street Journal, after considerable lobbying from students, state legislators in Illinois, Oregon and New York passed legislation mandating that public school districts provide free menstrual hygiene products, such as tampons, to girls in school bathrooms. Currently, more than a dozen state legislatures have proposed similar legislation in an effort to remove the stigma associated with “period poverty.”
According to MCPS, the plan will be developed and implemented during the 2021-2022 school year when all students will return to the buildings.
It is safe to say that this resolution was a long-awaited victory for girls in Montgomery County.
Article by Rebecca Fuchs of Walter Johnson High School
Graphic by Angelina Guhl of Richard Montgomery High School