Both boys and girls need to know about menstrual cycles. We should start the conversations early with both. They need reliable information and we need to install confidence in the boys too! Our girls need allies. Boys need to be willing and able to support girls experiencing their periods.
First, tell the boys that a girl bleeding 2-7 days or possibly more is natural. The girls did not do anything wrong. Boys need to know what is going on; make periods visible and not shameful. Make the boys supporters. Periods are not scary and boys should not be afraid to speak up and be advocates for the girls they encounter.
Boys should be educated on how to support girls on their period even if the girls are not relatives. Support girls. And That's On Period!
Teaching the boys, our sons, about menstruation furthers positive responses to periods. It provides protection and makes something natural less taboo. The thing is our boys do not have to do much, but they cannot be harmful, tease or humiliate our girls. Periods are everyone's experience, because we are all connected.
Find opportunities to talk to the boys. If a young boy sees a tampon/pad explain to him that girls bleed from their vagina's every month. Girls are not hurt. It is how a girl's body gets ready for a baby. Start early. Bring it up to the boys in the home. Take the lead. Natural moments to bring it up are: -when kids asks about puberty or changing bodies, when you are talking to boys about them, discuss the girls too -if your child asks where babies come from
-if you are at the store buying pads or tampons let's tell the boys that as a girl becomes a capable of carrying a baby/becoming pregnant, her body changes, and a baby can grow in her uterus. Girls have uterus'. Every month her uterine wall gets ready for a baby. If a baby does not come, that wall that has been getting ready, bleeds. The body makes her a new wall every month. See, not that hard, right?
How does that sound? Base your conversations on the child's/young boys level of understanding and development. Let them know that it is important not to ever make a girl feel bad about their period. All of us are here because of the onset of a period. It should be celebrated and respected.
Down below, discuss some of the concerns you have about openly discussing periods with young boys. We are changing the way we talk about periods! And That's On Period!
Reading this post was eye opening. I’ve never had a true conversation about periods because the subject was almost above reproach as a youngster.
As a mother of two boys AND two girls I can really see and understand the value in teaching the boys at a young age. A lot of us have been conditioned to view periods as “nasty” when it should be understood as a necessary flow /part of life. This blog is awesome!