Alarmed by the continuance of violent gun crimes in schools, many educational institutions are now requiring clear backpacks or implementing large-scale bans on rucksacks. Of course, these measures haven’t come without pushback from students, parents and even legislators. However, as schools are struggling to prevent and prepare for mass shootings on campuses, multiple districts across the US are pushing these new mandates through, prioritising the students’ safety above all.

An unexpected side effect of these new measures is that students who get their periods are now struggling to take menstruation products into school with them.

After a third-grade student was found with a loaded gun, two school districts in Michigan implemented blanket bans on backpacks to make it harder for students to take dangerous weapons to campus. The aforementioned incident was also the third time in a year that employees had uncovered a gun on a student.

Similarly, a school in Idaho implemented this policy after a 13-year-old girl was found to have a gun. In response, students in Idaho’s Jefferson School District started using household items like laundry baskets, coolers, and strollers, as backs, to highlight how schools were making it more difficult for them to take personal items and school appliances to class with.

"America will literally do anything except regulate guns."

After a student was found with a gun in her backpack, this school district is banning backpacks in an effort to curb gun violence. pic.twitter.com/pssHJSNPCI

— AJ+ (@ajplus) October 5, 2021

Further, several institutions mandated clear rucksacks following the tragic school shootings in Uvalde, Texas, and Parkland, Florida.

South Florida schools will only allow clear backpacks next year for school safety pic.twitter.com/b4NRt27BMn

— College Confessions (@collegefessing) May 7, 2023

Of course, security experts and concerned parents have argued that these extreme measures haven’t actually been proven to curb gun violence, especially since determined potential perpetrators could simply hide dangerous items on their bodies or find other ways to smuggle them into class.

Yet, despite this lack of proven effectiveness, a growing number of US schools are considering adopting these strict measures, citing vapes and drug use, or even back pain as further reasons to justify bans.

According to a recent exposé by The Cut, these measures are having an unexpected side effect on people who have periods. With no way to discreetly stash their menstrual products, students are instead left scrambling for covert ways to carry pads and tampons. At a time when bodily changes already weigh on young people like a dirty secret, these highly restrictive measures are intensifying the shame and awkwardness felt by many pupils during this pivotal time in their lives.

Let’s keep in mind that 86 per cent of people who menstruate have at one point started their periods unexpectedly in public. For a young teenager, who has no products with them and must now rely on a friend, kind stranger, or potentially a teacher, this can be an incredibly difficult and embarrassing experience.

“It’s made me literally want to go home-schooled because I just can’t deal with it,” one student told The Cut.

Common hiding places for tampons and pads now include pockets, shoes and even in their hair (tied in with a headband).

At the moment only 28 out of 50 states and Washington, D.C. have laws requiring or funding free period products in schools. It should also be noted that this only refers to sanitary products and not pain supplements, fresh underwear, clothing, or heat and massage devices that students need to make menstruation more bearable.

Throw period poverty into the mix and the fact that many low-income families can’t afford period products—a struggle which sometimes impedes a student’s ability to go to school—and we can expect this massive gender healthcare issue to get even worse.

Then there is the period cramp side of it all which is very rarely taken into account. In the UK, ‘debilitating’ period pains are causing roughly 36 per cent of young women and girls to miss school. This poll conducted by the charity Wellbeing Of Women and Censuswide further uncovered the extent to which periods are inherently impacting the ability of young people to receive consistent education.

Without schools putting proper, holistic period care in place first, this issue will likely be exacerbated through backpack bans, or clear backpack mandates, which can make a very sensitive, personal matter public. Keep in mind that periods are a source of shame and body dysmorphia for many trans and nonbinary people.

While the goal of backpack mandates is to protect students in environments where their safety should be guaranteed, these measures inadvertently worsen the needs of many students, leaving them feeling vulnerable and unsupported.