If you're like the vast majority of women out there, thoughts of your very first period are probably filled with a little bit of confusion, a tinge of embarrassment, and plenty of physical pain. However, if you were lucky, someone in your life prepared you beforehand. But for those who didn't have a talk beforehand — and were left completely dumbfounded by the sight of blood in your undies — you definitely aren't alone. In light of an incident that occurred with one of her elementary school students, one impassioned teacher is standing up for the next generation of girls so that they don't have to endure similarly bad experiences — and she is urging parents to ramp up talks about periods with their girls.
After a child was left mortified and confused in her classroom, an elementary school teacher took to Reddit to beg parents to start the dialogue early — both with girls and boys — about periods so that they are prepared when the time comes.
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In her post, the teacher detailed what happened after one of her students got her first period at school. "I was supervising 3-4th graders before classes start and this 4th grader girl went to the bathroom to basically not come back," she wrote. "When I went to check on her she said she couldn't come out and something was wrong, that she had pooped her pants but in the front."
According to the teacher, the little girl had no idea what was happening with her. She had no knowledge of periods or puberty at all. "I had to give her a super long maxi pad because I had nothing else and I had to call her parents to send her home because she was completely confused and sad," she wrote.
Explaining how important it is that kids have a clear understanding of their body, especially since it is impossible to guess when someone is going to get her first period, this teacher is pleading with parents not to let their girls end up in the same startling situation. "You cannot control when you get your period, but you can sure prepare your daughters for it. Please do so," she wrote.
Although the average age of first menstruation in girls is around 12, it also isn't necessarily uncommon for some girls to start at as young as 8. This makes educating your kids at a young age an essential part of preparing them for the future and having the lines of communication already open for when the time comes.
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As parents, we all know how difficult it can be to talk to our kids about difficult subjects like sex, violence, and even our own bodies. Tackling the topics takes a ton of patience and even more courage. But like everything else in parenting, because it's hard doesn't make it any less necessary.
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.