Maya Palavali Deepti Patil Havish Premkumar

EDITORIAL THE SIDEKICK

Provide hygiene products in school bathrooms

When it comes to biological necessities, it is essential for schools to support students. While Coppell High School offers a plethora of services and resources for its students to thrive, one specific area in which the school is lacking is in providing free and easy access to menstrual products.

Currently, the only place menstrual products can be accessed is in the nurse’s office. Though it is great to have some form of resource, school time is missed by students constantly having to go down to the office, wait for their turn, get the products, utilize them and go to class. Having products in the bathrooms is an easy fix for students to save time and energy better spent learning. Since CHS already has a supply of these products, it is not a major change to move them to bathrooms instead of the nurse’s office.

According to CHS Principal Laura Springer, menstrual products used to be available in the school bathrooms, but were removed due to a number of problems, the majority of which were forms of vandalism. Products were flushed down the toilets, ruining sewage systems. It is fair for the district to feel as though students cannot be trusted with free access when so many problems have occurred. However, with the right regulations, such as setting limits of products per day, menstruators should be given one more chance at equitable access to menstrual products in bathrooms.

Many other CISD campuses implement menstrual products in bathrooms for students to use. For example, Coppell Middle School East and CHS9 offer feminine products with a small price. New Tech High School’s club “Go With the Flow” raised funding for sanitary products to be available in all bathrooms. CHS has a bigger population than all these schools, why don’t we have similar systems in place?

This issue stems from the larger existing taboo in our school: talking about menstrual health. The stigma around menstrual health prevents many students from maintaining sanitary habits during their menstrual cycle. Menstruators are uncomfortable asking for products, burying the problem as many will hesitate to advocate for themselves. Under the tampon tax in Texas, menstrual products are not considered necessities, and are therefore taxed.

While it is commendable that the school offers products for menstruators, this service often goes to waste as not many students are aware of the resources available to them. Having products placed in bathrooms is a convenient way for students to take advantage of necessary products and shows that CHS is an inclusive place supporting menstruators during their menstrual cycle. No funds must be reallocated as the only change the school needs to make is moving the menstrual products from the nurse to the bathrooms. Having menstrual products in bathrooms will help the menstruator student body by making the school a more accessible environment for their biological needs. Trusting that CHS adolescents will be responsible with their privileges will bridge the gap between students and school staff, allowing for a more connected and comfortable school.

Editorial members’ stance

Each fthftymember of the editorial board’s opinion on whether provide or not Coppell The editorial board voted on High School should provide feminine prod whether or not Coppell High School ucts in school bathro should provide menstrual products in school bathrooms.

For: 16 Against: 0

2022 APRIL

2021-22 STAFF

Executive Leadership

Chase Wofford Staff Adviser Anjali Krishna Editor-in-Chief P. 17 Trisha Atluri Entertainment Editor P. 16 Sreeja Mudumby Editorial Page Editor P. 9

Editorial Leadership

Sri Achanta News Editor P. 3 Anjali Vishwanath Daily News/Assignment Editor P. 4 Iniya Nathan CHS9 Editor P. 5 Anette Varghese Student Life Editor P. 10 Torie Peck Sports Editor P. 21

Media Team Leadership

Angelina Liu Visual Media Editor P. 7 Nandini Muresh Photo Editor P. 11 Srihari Yechangunja Design Editor P. 1, 12, 13 Ayane Kobayashi Staff Cartoonist P. 15

Communications & Business Team

Manasa Mohan Advertising/Circulation Manager P. 23, 24 Aliya Zakir Social Media Manager P. 18 Varshitha Korrapolu Communications Manager

Writers

Nathan Cheng Anushree De P. 2 Shrayes Gunna Yaamini Jois P. 8 Joanne Kim Saniya Koppikar

Photographers

Aliza Abidi Sannidhi Arimanda Olivia Cooper Meghna Kulkarni Nicholas Larry Sruthi Lingam

Designers

Meer Mahfuz P. 22 Maya Palavali P. 6 Deepti Patil Havish Premkumar Yasemin Ragland Tracy Tran P. 19

Sreehitha Moravaneni Nandini Paidesetty Ashley Qian Olivia Short Shreya Ravi Aarinn Vittolia P. 20 The Sidekick is the official student newspaper for Coppell High School. Its purpose is to inform, entertain and provide an educational resource for its readers. This newspaper is a public forum for student expression with staff members (with assistance from their adviser) making content decisions. The editorials and columns in this paper reflect the view of their writers.

The Sidekick is a member of Interscholastic League Press Conference (ILPC), National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA), Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA) and Southern Interscholastic Press Association (SIPA). The Sidekick welcomes all letters to the editor, but letters must be signed before consideration for publication. Send letters to cwofford@coppellisd.com or bring them by D115. Advertisements are sold as full, 1/2 page, 1/4 page, 1/8 page sizes in black and white or color.

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