Student Punished for Speaking out When Teacher Wouldn't Let Her Bring a Bag to the Bathroom
Published May 15 2023, 4:34 p.m. ET
While it's always important for students to respect their teachers and abide by the rules, there are times when teachers might be able to learn from their students.
A 17-year-old female student took to the AITA ( “Am I the A--hole?”) subreddit to describe a situation she had with her male teacher at school that resulted in detention for a week. The reason she was punished appears to stem from the fact that she got blunt with her superior about needing to bring her bag to the bathroom so she could change her pad.
While she has accepted the repercussions, she explained that her sister did not approve of what she did and chided her. That said, she's now rethinking how she handled the situation. As she pens on Reddit: "AITA for using “graphic and vulgar language” when my teacher wouldn’t let me bring my bag to the bathroom?" Let's see what Reddit says.
Teacher's rule about not bringing bags to the bathroom doesn't sit well with female student.
Reddit u/CarelessLawyering explained in the post below that she had an older teacher who had made a rule that students could not bring their bags (including pencil cases and small purses) with them when using the bathroom.
While this wouldn't normally be a problem, u/CarelessLawyering explained that it became cumbersome for female students who may be storing sanitary napkins and/or tampons in their bags.
As she wrote, "I’ve just dealt with it by wearing bulky hoodies and putting my pads in the front pocket, but it’s been really hot lately and our school has really bad quality AC." She didn't wear a hoodie to school on the day of the incident.
After asking for permission to use the bathroom, she tried to take her bag with her but was stopped.
He began questioning her about why she needed her bag
And before you knew it u/CarelessLawyering wrote that she blurted out the following: “Because I need a pad to soak up the blood that comes out of my vagina, Steve." Then she stormed out with her bag in tow.
After using the bathroom, u/CarelessLawyering was given a week's worth of detention, which was later reduced to two days after her mom stepped in.
Regardless, the school and u/CarelessLawyering's sister made it clear that they thought that she had handled the situation inappropriately. Meanwhile, many users on Reddit supported her actions.
"You didn’t use graphic and vulgar language [in my opinion], you stated exactly what happens in a female body. If your male teacher is too fragile to handle that, that’s his problem, not yours. Absolutely [not the a--hole]," said one person.
Another wrote: "[Not the a--hole]. I hate that we are meant to be discreet about periods because boys and men are uncomfortable about knowing that ladies bleed once a month. You know what else is uncomfortable? ACTUALLY bleeding from our vaginas once a month!"
Even a former science teacher weighed in, claiming that u/CarelessLawyering was correct in her actions and that her mom should have fought harder for her.
"I'm willing to bet he didn't actually tell the authorities what you said precisely and that 'graphic and vulgar language' was his description," read the teacher's comment.
It's safe to say that he definitely wasn't a sex education teacher.
