Florida’s plan to ban ‘period talk’
Politicians in Florida are considering a draft law to strengthen state control over sex education in students.
This would ban any lessons in schools teaching students about menstrual cycles before high school.
The proposal comes after Florida’s Republican-dominated legislature, backed by Governor Ron DeSantis, passed various laws limiting discussion in schools of gender and sexuality, reducing the emphasis on diversity in public schools across the state.
The latest proposal came from Republican Stan McClain which would allow instruction "acquired immune deficiency syndrome, sexually transmitted diseases, or health education” only from sixth grade through to 12, typically children aged 12-18.
Girls generally have their first period between the ages of 10 and 15, but some do as young as eight.
"Imagine a little girl in fourth grade, going to the bathroom and finding blood in her panties and thinking that she is dying," state representative Ashley Gantt, a Democrat, said in a social media post.
"She doesn't actually know what's going on. And her teacher does not even have the ability to tell her that this is a part of life.”
However, the bill passed the subcommittee by a 13-to-5 vote.
Planned Parenthood said the legislation would take "total control from local school districts in approving sex ed curriculum and give it to the State Department of Education", in turn presenting a "reductive and binary view of sex" and stigmatising LGBTQIA+ students.
Critics say conservative legislatures in the USA are trying to impose their own views on others, preventing students from having a well-rounded education.
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