Primary school to teach children boys '˜can have periods too'

Teachers in a primary school will give relationship education classes where boys will be told they too can have periods in a move to tackle stigma around menstruation described as 'insanity'.

Bins used for ‘time-of-the-month’ waste products will also be installed in male toilets on the premises so girls won’t feel “shame” when asking for the disposable items.

The measures approved by officials in Brighton & Hove City Council are broadly in line with calls for more discussion in schools around LGBT issues.

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The move to teach children at a UK primary school that boys can have periods too has been criticised. Picture: Barry Batchelor/PA WireThe move to teach children at a UK primary school that boys can have periods too has been criticised. Picture: Barry Batchelor/PA Wire
The move to teach children at a UK primary school that boys can have periods too has been criticised. Picture: Barry Batchelor/PA Wire
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But Transgender Trend, a group which campaigns against what it calls subjective ideas of gender rather than the biological reality of sex, warned it was “already difficult” for young girls going through puberty without their bodily issues being dressed up “in politically correct terms”.

Brighton & Hove City Council approved the measures in the school as part of wider moves to tackle stigma around menstruation, the Mail on Sunday reported.

“We believe that it’s important for all genders to be able to learn and talk about menstruation together … our approach recognises the fact that some people who have periods are trans or non-binary,” the council said.

The authority added that “trans boys and men and non-binary people may have periods” and said “menstruation must be inclusive of ‘all genders’”.

A representative for Transgender Trend criticised the council’s decision.

Stephanie Davies-Arai said: “Girls going through puberty are already having a difficult time. What they should be given is clear language to be able to talk about their bodies and their female biological functions without couching it in politically correct terms.”

Tory MP David Davis also hit out at the move by council bosses in Brighton, calling it “insanity”.

“Learning about periods is already a difficult subject for children that age,” he said.

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“So to throw in the idea girls who believe they are boys also have periods will leave them completely confused.”

The move came after the Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health (RCPCH) earlier this year called on ministers to go further in their guidance to schools over sex education.

The Royal College said: “There needs to be a clear statement that LGBT people and relationships are part of teaching about healthy relationships in primary school.

“This can be demonstrated in relation to families – but also it is helpful to children to learn the meaning of terms such as lesbian, gay and bisexual”.