I say bravo, about time, yay.
http://www.newsweek.com/free-tampons-pads-us-schools-496083
(this was closed in the Parent Forum because it became an argument about financial aid or something…hoping it can stay up here in this modified form).
I’m all in support of this. Just because it has "his"topically 
been looked at as something 1/2 the population must provide for themselves, it is a necessity just like many other provided products in a restroom. Let’s stop the taxation, too!
Don’t see why anyone except those who hate change would object to this…
Just ~2 decades ago, there were similar arguments against schools supplying condoms in high schools in the NYC area. After some protests, they changed the rule so condoms ended up being supplied by the high schools directly starting in my second year of HS.
And several decades ago(Not too long after WWII), similar arguments were used by some to argue against K-12 public schools providing free/reduced cost lunch for students…especially lower income students.
This despite post-war studies by the US government and US armed forces that ~25% of draftees called up for service during WWII were declared 4-F(rejected) for military service due to heath issues related to childhood malnutrition.
I worked for a company that provided tampons and pads for free in employee restrooms back in 1979-1980.
I’ve never seen it since.
Awesome! This should be the case everywhere… just like toilet paper.
@cobrat:
When they had the first draft, in 1939, roughly 50% of those called went 4F, and most of those were due to malnutrition …there is a long, long chain of people objecting to doing things to help others, I could sort of understand condoms (while not agreeing with the logic at all), but tampons and such?
Apparently, NYC is very rich and has nothing else to pay for. However, it is not the impression I get when we visit every year. I wonder where these money were taken from. Were they privately donated? I definitely would not like to have my tax money spent this way, but I will never choose to live in NYC either for many unrelated to the topic reasons.
I remember tampon/pad vending machines in lots of college and other public restrooms (for a dime or later a quarter) but I rarely see those anymore, never mind free ones. I wonder why that is?
@OHMomof2 the vending machines use special cardboard packaging on top of regular wrapper and it might be getting expensive, so landlords/property mgmt companies might be dropping it.
Drugstore-brand tampons cost around 20 cents each, and brand name around a quarter. Add the hassle and it’s not worth it in terms of revenue.
Yes, Miami, because tampons and pads are the things that will break NYC’s budget 8-|
Well, it didn’t take long…
Do you consider basic necessities to be an extravagance, @MiamiDAP? As a NY resident, I’m happy with any policy that helps our children focus on their education. Young women who have to worry about whether or not they have enough personal hygiene products to make it through the day are not focusing on learning. I’d happily pay an additional tax to expand this program throughout our entire state.
a quick google search shows you can buy 500 vending machine name brand tampons for $56 (11 cents a pop).
https://www.amazon.com/Tampons-Vending-Dispenser-Hospeco-T500/dp/B002MB5WXU/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1473359167&sr=1-1&keywords=vending+tampons
Not that profit should be a primary motivator over servicing one’s customers, but its not for revenue making reasons at that price.
What about children in the NYC private schools? They will not be able to focus on education.
Then the private schools should provide them as well of course, @CCDD14. After all, those schools are getting subsidies already through tax exemption. They can write it off as a business expense, I’m sure. Or the students and their families can choose public school. I don’t see the merit in your comment.
NYC is definitely not for everyone. And as a New Yorker, I say “Thank God.”
@CCDD14, I don’t know that my taxes pay for private schools, but if private schools want to apply to Albany for funding they’re more than welcome to do so. However, I think that accepting public funding requires them to meet Albany’s educational mandates and Albany has a LOT of unfunded mandates. It would be cheaper for them to look into the link that @doschicos so helpfully provided.
I just offered to look at the issue at another angle.
We can also discuss if distributing free skin-care products will benefit learning too.
I believe that Miami’s presence on this board makes it more entertaining. NYC could use her too.
Skin-care (assuming you’re talking about typical acne and not some sort of severe dermatological problem) is not on the same level as tampons/pads.
You can be sent home if you’re bleeding on the seats. Plus, it can ruin your clothes (something that low income kids can’t really afford to do).
I don’t see these as being in the same ballpark as acne…
Not so fun for higher income girls either.