P.E. is often an uncomfortable class for students, regardless of their gender. Teens have to change into unflattering and uncomfortable uniforms, spend an hour getting sweaty during the middle of the day and then return to the rest of their classes and try to focus on learning rather than the stench of a classmate who hasn’t discovered deodorant yet.
But physical education can be even more difficult for girls and teens when they’re suffering from debilitating period cramps or have a teacher that puts them on edge. Below, you’ll find a story that one high schooler recently shared on Reddit asking for advice after she realized that her P.E. teacher had been keeping tabs on students’ menstrual cycles.
This teen sometimes has to sit out from P.E. class when she's on her period
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
But when she realized that the teacher was keeping tabs on her cycle, she began to wonder if that was normal
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
Later, the teen clarified some details about the situation
Image credits: Naoss**t
She also replied to several comments and shared even more information
The vast majority of P.E. teachers know that students' periods impact participation in their classes
It should be quite obvious that a person’s menstrual cycle isn’t anyone else’s business. A woman is never obligated to disclose the fact that she’s on her period (unless she's talking to her doctor), and a teen shouldn’t be required to tell her teacher either. It can be helpful information to share to be able to sit out during P.E. or skip basketball practice, but it is certainly not something that teachers need to be tracking.
When it comes to how teen girls feel about P.E. class in the first place, Youth Sport Trust reports that only 66% of girls actually enjoy physical education. Meanwhile, a whopping 87% of boys have fun in P.E. class.
But periods are a major reason why female students aren’t as eager to get active in school, as nearly half say that it hinders their participation. And the majority of girls over the age of 11 admit that they worry about bleeding through their P.E. uniforms while running around.
Teachers are aware of this issue, though. A 2022 study titled “Teachers' Perceptions and Experiences of Menstrual Cycle Education and Support in UK Schools” found that 82% of teachers believe that school attendance is impacted by periods. And 88% of P.E. teachers shared that participation in their class is affected by students’ menstrual cycles.
But many teachers believe that they could do more to help their students and make them feel comfortable around this topic. In fact, 4 out of 5 teachers believe that training would be beneficial to improve menstrual education.
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
Irregular periods are common in teens and are usually nothing to be concerned about
While this isn’t always an easy topic for students to bring up to their teachers, it’s important that teachers don’t do anything to make students feel even worse, or feel ashamed in any way. The teacher in this particular story seems to be confused about the fact that this teen doesn’t have a regular period. But that’s actually perfectly normal for kids and teens.
According to KidsHealth, the majority of the time, irregular periods are to be expected in kids and teens because their bodies and hormones are rapidly changing. “As you get older, your cycle will probably settle into a recognizable pattern,” they explain.
This irregularity is likely nothing to worry about. But it might be time to see a doctor if a teen was having regular periods and then they suddenly become irregular, stopped getting their period at all, developed extra hair growth on their face and/or body, started having periods that last longer than 7 days or occur more frequently than every 21 days, started having severe cramping or abdominal pain, began bleeding between periods or experienced irregular periods for 3 years or more.
Baptist Health notes that these issues may be caused by excessive exercise, a very high or low body weight, thyroid disorders, certain medications, hormone imbalances such as polycystic ovary syndrome or simply not consuming enough calories.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this situation in the comments below, pandas. What do you think this teen should do? Feel free to weigh in, and then if you’re interested in checking out another Bored Panda article discussing similar issues, look no further than right here.
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
Readers were appalled by the teacher's behavior, and many shared advice for the student
Some readers even shared their own stories about inappropriate P.E. teachers
