The strictness on restroom passes and time is not only unfair for women but can also be uncomfortable for them as well. 

When trying not to risk leaking, female students often risk being late to class instead. Along with being late, it can be embarrassing to explain why. 

Depending on the flow of the period, products can vary from 20 minutes to 4 hours for the time it needs to be changed. Women who suffer from heavier flows have to go visit the restroom more frequently –missing more time in class or ending up late in class. To add on, Tallwood High School requires a 10-10 rule, which stipulates that a student can’t leave the classroom during the first and last 10 minutes of class. For women who are on their period, this small time period can cause an accident to happen when it could’ve been prevented if they could have gone. 

The five minute break between classes may seem like a good amount of time to walk across the school, but if a student needs to use the restroom, is there enough time? No, honestly, there is not –at least for women. 

In general, any menstrual product can take about three to five minutes to change. But having to wash your hands beforehand, remove it, change it, wash hands again, and then walk to class, there is not enough time to do this without being considered late to the next block. 

Adding onto the time, the girls’ restrooms are always packed in between classes because they are either looking in the mirror, using the restroom, or just hanging out with friends. And there’s few stalls open for students who actually need to use it because of the crowdedness. 

On average, there are five to 10 stalls in a restroom, which is not enough during the crowded switch between classes. Some of these stalls may also have unusable doors –lessening the amount of stalls that can actually be occupied. 

I believe it would be beneficial if they extended the time between classes or put more funding into the school to have either more restrooms or a separate area for females to just touch up. Putting more time between classes could lead to less restroom visits during class time, meaning teachers can gain more attention, and females won’t have to worry so much during class. 

Though gender equality is much better than it was before, there is still little acknowledgement for the things females have to go through. Taking this small step for consideration of women and menstrual cycles will make an impact on the Tallwood society, and possibly other schools as well.