Secret Teacher: We still don't talk about our bodies openly in Irish schools

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. So said Nelson Mandela. But what if the system of education refuses to change?"

High school students at school, wearing N95 Face masks. Sitting in a classroom and writing lessons.

My friend told me a story a few weeks back about her little girl getting her first period last summer. When schools were going back, her daughter was told to bring only a lunchbox due to Covid restrictions. She was anxious about where she should keep her sanitary products; she didn’t want anyone to see them. My craft-savvy friend saved the day by sewing an internal pocket in her skirt.

The story stuck in my head. I wish a young girl in 2021 didn’t have to feel so awkward about having her period. But I’m not surprised to hear she does. We still don’t talk about our bodies openly in Irish schools; how their desires and functions differ, how they impact our lives. In too many classrooms, too many students feel ‘othered’ by the curriculum. They feel invisible in heteronormative institutions, sustained by religiously conservative boards of management.