Period Education Is Finally Getting the Attention It Deserves

Back in March 2022, D.C. passed the Expanding Student Access to Period Products Act — a huge step forward. It requires schools to teach menstrual health starting in fourth grade, for all students, regardless of gender. The Office of the State Superintendent (OSSE) then created clear, practical learning standards so young menstruators have the information, support, and school environment they need to manage their periods with dignity, safety, and actual comfort. Supplemental standards were adopted in March 2023, and the program officially rolled out in the 2023–2024 school year.

We don’t have full data yet on how informed or supported students feel… but new research presented at the 2025 American Academy of Pediatrics Conference makes one thing very clear: teens want real information about their bodies.

One of the researchers, Hannah Chiu, said it perfectly “Most of us have picked up scraps of information along the way: how to choose a period product, insert a tampon, or track your cycle— usually through trial and error. But imagine a generation of young menstruators who felt informed instead of afraid,”

And it’s not just here in the US. A study out of the UK found that most women ages 18–40 felt their menstrual health education completely failed them. They described feeling unprepared, embarrassed, and confused heading into their first periods and even well into adulthood.

Here’s what all this tells me:

• Kids and teens or more than ready for this kind of information

• Menstrual Education should we removed from the umbrella of "Sex Ed" so that access can be expanded

• And all of us, parents, educators, caregivers, practitioners, have a role in creating a world where menstruators don’t enter this stage of life scared or uninformed.

I constantly think about what this kind of education would have done for me. Teaching me that my menstrual challenges (the massive pain, the fatigue, the bloating) weren’t “just how it is,” but symptoms worth paying attention to.

Progress can feel slow, but the push forward is being championed by incredible people all over the country. And who knows… maybe one day our small city of Fort Collins will feel this shift too.