Flinders University study finds period education comes too late for SA students

Olivia Bellas felt “embarrassed and isolated” when she got her period aged nine. Now she is among a group of researchers urging teachers to raise the topic with students at a much earlier age.

More girls are getting their periods as young as eight years old, prompting a call for schools to start discussing the topic with children from the time they start school.

Researcher Olivia Bellas got her period at the age of nine but felt embarrassed to tell anyone at her school.

Now she is part of a team of researchers who are recommending changes to the national curriculum to encourage conversations between teachers and students about menstruating “even in a simple way” from as early as Reception.

“I was really lucky having a super supportive mum who identified that I was starting puberty earlier than what is usual and she really prepared me for that,” Ms Bellas, now 26, said.

“The most challenging thing about it was going to school.

“It was, quite honestly, a terrifying prospect to deal with my period at school.

“There were no (sanitary item) bins in the toilets I had access to in Year 4.

“I felt embarrassed and isolated.

“It wasn’t something I felt empowered enough to share even with the teachers.”

Researcher Olivia Bellas. Photo: Flinders Foundation

The average age of a first period globally has fallen over the past 200 years from 16 or 17 to around 12 and a half.

This is in large part due to improvements in nutrition and general health, as well as genetics.

But about 12 per cent of Australian children get their period between the age of eight and 11.

A survey of 2500 students by SA’s Children’s Commissioner Helen Connolly found the average student locally had their first period while still in primary school.

Currently the Australian curriculum recommends puberty and reproductive health first be discussed in Year 5, when students are usually aged 10.

But a report released by Flinders University warns this is too late.

The team of researchers, including study lead author Ms Bellas, interviewed primary school principals, teachers, counsellors and support officers about how the issue was discussed in schools and what support was available to students.

“There was a general apprehension from school staff about talking to younger children about menstruation,” Ms Bellas said.

“They didn’t know if children younger than Year 5 … were mature enough, and whether to teach boys about menstruation as well.”

The study, funded by the Flinders Foundation and published in the journal Sex Education, recommends school staff be encouraged to speak with all children about periods “regardless of age or gender”.

Ms Bellas told The Advertiser the national curriculum should be updated to recommend earlier discussions, even “at a very basic level from Reception”.

“We underestimate children’s capacity to have these conversations, even in a simple way,” she said, relaying an example of one young child who, in a matter of fact way, explained to a teacher that his mother had a stomach ache because she had her period.

“If they’re learning from the first instance that it is a normal thing that half the population experience and it’s just part of life they’re not going to have that awkwardness.”

While there is criticism that the school curriculum is already overcrowded, Ms Bellas said “the unfortunate reality is that not all children have parents who are either present or have the capacity or ability to have these discussions with their kid”.

“We know that taboo around periods still exists (and) it’s still a real barrier for a lot of people to talk about it openly,” she said.

“But by talking about it with younger children, and male students, it’s normalising it and removing that taboo and all those awkward feelings people can have about this topic.”

Originally published as Flinders University study finds period education comes too late for SA students