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P.E. is often an uncomfortable class for students, regardless of their gender. Teens have to change into unflattering and uncomfortable uniforms, spend an hour getting sweaty during the middle of the day and then return to the rest of their classes and try to focus on learning rather than the stench of a classmate who hasn’t discovered deodorant yet.
But physical education can be even more difficult for girls and teens when they’re suffering from debilitating period cramps or have a teacher that puts them on edge. Below, you’ll find a story that one high schooler recently shared on Reddit asking for advice after she realized that her P.E. teacher had been keeping tabs on students’ menstrual cycles.
RELATED:
This teen sometimes has to sit out from P.E. class when she’s on her period
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
But when she realized that the teacher was keeping tabs on her cycle, she began to wonder if that was normal
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
Later, the teen clarified some details about the situation
Image credits: Naoss**t
She also replied to several comments and shared even more information
The vast majority of P.E. teachers know that students’ periods impact participation in their classes
It should be quite obvious that a person’s menstrual cycle isn’t anyone else’s business. A woman is never obligated to disclose the fact that she’s on her period (unless she’s talking to her doctor), and a teen shouldn’t be required to tell her teacher either. It can be helpful information to share to be able to sit out during P.E. or skip basketball practice, but it is certainly not something that teachers need to be tracking.
When it comes to how teen girls feel about P.E. class in the first place, Youth Sport Trust reports that only 66% of girls actually enjoy physical education. Meanwhile, a whopping 87% of boys have fun in P.E. class.
But periods are a major reason why female students aren’t as eager to get active in school, as nearly half say that it hinders their participation. And the majority of girls over the age of 11 admit that they worry about bleeding through their P.E. uniforms while running around.
Teachers are aware of this issue, though. A 2022 study titled “Teachers’ Perceptions and Experiences of Menstrual Cycle Education and Support in UK Schools” found that 82% of teachers believe that school attendance is impacted by periods. And 88% of P.E. teachers shared that participation in their class is affected by students’ menstrual cycles.
But many teachers believe that they could do more to help their students and make them feel comfortable around this topic. In fact, 4 out of 5 teachers believe that training would be beneficial to improve menstrual education.
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
Irregular periods are common in teens and are usually nothing to be concerned about
While this isn’t always an easy topic for students to bring up to their teachers, it’s important that teachers don’t do anything to make students feel even worse, or feel ashamed in any way. The teacher in this particular story seems to be confused about the fact that this teen doesn’t have a regular period. But that’s actually perfectly normal for kids and teens.
According to KidsHealth, the majority of the time, irregular periods are to be expected in kids and teens because their bodies and hormones are rapidly changing. “As you get older, your cycle will probably settle into a recognizable pattern,” they explain.
This irregularity is likely nothing to worry about. But it might be time to see a doctor if a teen was having regular periods and then they suddenly become irregular, stopped getting their period at all, developed extra hair growth on their face and/or body, started having periods that last longer than 7 days or occur more frequently than every 21 days, started having severe cramping or abdominal pain, began bleeding between periods or experienced irregular periods for 3 years or more.
Baptist Health notes that these issues may be caused by excessive exercise, a very high or low body weight, thyroid disorders, certain medications, hormone imbalances such as polycystic ovary syndrome or simply not consuming enough calories.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this situation in the comments below, pandas. What do you think this teen should do? Feel free to weigh in, and then if you’re interested in checking out another Bored Panda article discussing similar issues, look no further than right here.
Image credits: freepik (not the actual photo)
Readers were appalled by the teacher’s behavior, and many shared advice for the student
Some readers even shared their own stories about inappropriate P.E. teachers
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What do you think ?
StrangeOne 9 hours ago
This is downright invasive. One thing I find difficult being female is the lack of privacy and trust we know our bodies. It also makes me equally upset when other females use our most vulnerable times, parts of our bodies as lies to get out of something, making the rest of us females have to provide invasive proof when we're telling the truth. Stop it. Talking to you, Tumbleweed_jim
Vincent Philippart 5 hours ago
Putting your hand on the shoulder or upper arm of a person talking to you is entirely normal in some cultures. We don't know where OP's from, but I feel a bit sad that internet culture is slowly eroding the way people use to connect. Physical contact is an essential part of human communication. This modern day puritanism is quickly alienating us from one another.
Mik 5 hours ago
And some people are just like that, I think there is nothing creepy about touching someone's arm if that's just how that person is with everyone. With this guy it might be only the girls again... Which would make it creepy.
Load More Replies... Nimitz 9 hours ago
I mean, if I were a teacher and kids gave me an excuse for why they couldn't participate, I would probably write it down. Some kids mysteriously have a 3 or more grandmas who die in an astonishingly short time span. Y'all sure he's just not marking down a quick note in the log and then remembering later?
LakotaWolf (she/her) 4 hours ago
Keeping track of how many times a kid says "hey my grandma died" is not even remotely comparable to having a WRITTEN LOG full of the MENSTRUAL CYCLES OF TEENAGE GIRLS. And not just ANY teenage girls, teenage girls who are your STUDENTS.
Load More Replies...
DC 1 hour ago
It's not hard to see where he's coming from - every valid excuse is used invalid as well. But ... the tracking of bodily functions is bordering to invasive behaviour at least, and sums up all too well with the rest you describe. Have someone above him in hierarchy, preferably female, look into this...
T'Mar of Vulcan 6 hours ago
Exercise is good for period cramps, though, at least it was for me. YMMV. BUT - in this day and age in America, how can people be so blase about someone tracking girls' periods? When women on the Internet are warning each other not to install certain period and ovulation tracking software? In certain states you could get into trouble! I'm not from the U.S. but holy moley, I would be extra worried about this if I were that teenager!
Traveling Lady Railfan 10 hours ago
I'm not defending the male gym teacher but, can you imagine how many times the excuse of "I have my period" is used in high school to get out of things, especially gym? There is a practicality involved to keeping track of menstrual schedules so that a female student can't use the same excuse once a week but on the other hand, an awful lot of periods especially at that age aren't regular. And if the guy doesn't know that, he really has no business being a gym teacher (cuz they usually teach health as well)
V 9 hours ago
If a kid is trying to get out of any class a lot you bring it up with the parents. You do not write down that a minor has their period unless you are their doctor. That is medical information.
Load More Replies... Beth Wheeler 10 hours ago
That gym teacher is super creepy and has absolutely no business doing that or touching any of the kids. There was a teacher that my oldest had that I went to the school for a mtg because he had a couple kids in each class that he picked on. He literally made my straight A son sick from the stress which was strange because he's always had a strong personality. The next year a 12 yo little girl asked to go to the bathroom and this a*****e asked her in class if she was gonna bleed to death. I was told this by a teacher that I've known for 50 yrs now that saw her in the hallway crying. That man is so lucky that I don't have girls. His contact was NOT renewed!
Guess Undheit 22 minutes ago
REPORT HIM AND OUT HIM PUBLICLY. It's creepy, and it's a form of sexual abuse. Males make up only 25% of US school teachers, but they make up 89.1% of teachers arrested for sexual assault. [ https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/protecting-children-from-sexual-abuse/202305/educator-sexual-misconduct-remains-prevalent-in ] There are 28,500 gym teachers in the US out of 3,800,000 teachers. That's only 0.75% of teachers, yet they make up 19.7% of those arrested for sexual abuse. [ https://www.zippia.com/physical-education-teacher-jobs/demographics/ ] [ https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Physical-Education-Teacher-Salary ] This proves once again that cisgender heterosexual males are the problem and the danger to children, especially to girls.
CanadianDimes 1 hour ago
The only person tracking someone’s menstrual cycle should be that person.
whineygingercat 1 hour ago
In middle school, there was a female gym teacher who would stare at the girls when we changed for class. When I had her for gym, I told mom about it. She didn't believe me. The following year, my sister had this exact same issue. Mom's response: during progress report pick up, she told the gym teacher that if she ever heard that the teacher was staring at my sister again, it'd be the last thing this teacher ever did.
Sebastian Scholler 3 hours ago
For me, it´s weird to have a male PE teacher for girls. I´m Generation X and in my country PE was always separated in girls (with a female teacher) and boys (with a male teacher).
BrownEyedPanda 3 hours ago
The guy is a perv. Why else would he be documenting girls' menstrual cycles, unless he's an OB-GYN? OP should definitely tell her parents what's going on. They'll be able to deal with this situation much better than if she dealt with it on her own. There also needs to be a thorough background check made; it's possible that this teacher left a previous school under suspicious circumstances regarding this kind of behavior.
Livingwithcfs 6 hours ago
This is very creepy behavior and she needs to go to tge police sexual abuse team. This is extreme concerning behavior that I feel neither the school or parents will take seriously enough. If other girls have mentioned this behavior it shows a trend and I'd guess he will have stepped over that line to SA on some. I wish I was joking but there is plenty of evidence in recent history of this happening. I'm honestly scared for all of the girls in tgat school. If someone in the community knows this girl or tge school please report this
Yu Pan 6 hours ago (edited)
I wouldn't be surprised if this girl lives in Asia. They are really obsessed with women's period because they think women are trying to cheat out of class/work. In one of the Asian countries, women finally were allowed to take 2 days a month specifically for cramps and even though it is not required by the law, many companies would require "proof/doctors note" to grant the days off. Often companies just flat out denied it. Living in US this kind of invasion of privacy is totally unheard of and probably outright discriminatory, but unfortunately it is quite common in other parts of the world and I'm sorry that unless there's a cultural change in the society, no suggestions the commenters provided (going to parents, teachers, nurses, counselors, CPS, etc--what we deemed to be standard key players in a girl student's life here in US is grossly lacking/powerless in Asia) will be able to actually help her. The best she can hope for is to get out of that school, sooner rather than later.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 4 hours ago
I checked OP's comments on Reddit, and she says she lives in Europe. She wasn't any more specific than that, though.
Load More Replies... 
Ben Aziza 11 hours ago
Dude is indeed creepy with the whole tracking periods s**t... I mean why even do that? I would be watching this guy... Definitly worth an investigation but not a witch hunt yet... As part of me think there is a tiny probably the "rumors" are introducing the possibility of prejudgment which could be ruining an innocent man's life. It is just unsubstantiated rumors are bad and muddy things a lot... Again tho I am 85% leaning on the creep with s**t to hide so... Look find and something concrete and lock that thing up if it is a predator! There is no explination i can come up with to be tracking periods of all the students... I know some do that for competitors even THEN the ppl involved do that themselves! Watch this guy! CLOSLY!
LaserBrain 11 hours ago (edited)
When I was in school, the girls' PE teachers were women. Doesn't that make more sense?
Ben Aziza 11 hours ago (edited)
Ehhh...No it does not make more sense to me... Cus this is ultimately sex based segregation and the sexual orientation is what counts for these kinda creepy sexual predator crimes.... The lesbians/gay predators would feast either way... Because ppl would trust them... Remember the whole "vow of chastity" priests and how they used that to rape boys over and over and get away with it? Well Nuns do that too... and Imams but that is general abuse of power as they "won" their society and everyone in their cmmunities is under them they JUST KEEP pushing to reduce the age of concent to match mohammed's in so many places... Many more examples exist... Those are outdated conservative concepts. Splitting ppl by sex does nothing to solve this. Making vulnerable ppl aware of these predators helps. Sex ed helps!
Load More Replies...
John Harrison 7 hours ago
1. This fictional gym teacher is definitely a perv. 2. Understandable that you would WANT to keep track of students' excuses for missing class. Some girls use their periods to miss as many gym classes as possible. But you just don't do it. Because it's their periods, and it's Fing creepy. Heck, in this day and age, just don't be a male gym teacher for females at all.
StrangeOne 9 hours ago
This is downright invasive. One thing I find difficult being female is the lack of privacy and trust we know our bodies. It also makes me equally upset when other females use our most vulnerable times, parts of our bodies as lies to get out of something, making the rest of us females have to provide invasive proof when we're telling the truth. Stop it. Talking to you, Tumbleweed_jim
Vincent Philippart 5 hours ago
Putting your hand on the shoulder or upper arm of a person talking to you is entirely normal in some cultures. We don't know where OP's from, but I feel a bit sad that internet culture is slowly eroding the way people use to connect. Physical contact is an essential part of human communication. This modern day puritanism is quickly alienating us from one another.
Mik 5 hours ago
And some people are just like that, I think there is nothing creepy about touching someone's arm if that's just how that person is with everyone. With this guy it might be only the girls again... Which would make it creepy.
Load More Replies... Nimitz 9 hours ago
I mean, if I were a teacher and kids gave me an excuse for why they couldn't participate, I would probably write it down. Some kids mysteriously have a 3 or more grandmas who die in an astonishingly short time span. Y'all sure he's just not marking down a quick note in the log and then remembering later?
LakotaWolf (she/her) 4 hours ago
Keeping track of how many times a kid says "hey my grandma died" is not even remotely comparable to having a WRITTEN LOG full of the MENSTRUAL CYCLES OF TEENAGE GIRLS. And not just ANY teenage girls, teenage girls who are your STUDENTS.
Load More Replies... DC 1 hour ago
It's not hard to see where he's coming from - every valid excuse is used invalid as well. But ... the tracking of bodily functions is bordering to invasive behaviour at least, and sums up all too well with the rest you describe. Have someone above him in hierarchy, preferably female, look into this...
T'Mar of Vulcan 6 hours ago
Exercise is good for period cramps, though, at least it was for me. YMMV. BUT - in this day and age in America, how can people be so blase about someone tracking girls' periods? When women on the Internet are warning each other not to install certain period and ovulation tracking software? In certain states you could get into trouble! I'm not from the U.S. but holy moley, I would be extra worried about this if I were that teenager!
Traveling Lady Railfan 10 hours ago
I'm not defending the male gym teacher but, can you imagine how many times the excuse of "I have my period" is used in high school to get out of things, especially gym? There is a practicality involved to keeping track of menstrual schedules so that a female student can't use the same excuse once a week but on the other hand, an awful lot of periods especially at that age aren't regular. And if the guy doesn't know that, he really has no business being a gym teacher (cuz they usually teach health as well)
V 9 hours ago
If a kid is trying to get out of any class a lot you bring it up with the parents. You do not write down that a minor has their period unless you are their doctor. That is medical information.
Load More Replies... Beth Wheeler 10 hours ago
That gym teacher is super creepy and has absolutely no business doing that or touching any of the kids. There was a teacher that my oldest had that I went to the school for a mtg because he had a couple kids in each class that he picked on. He literally made my straight A son sick from the stress which was strange because he's always had a strong personality. The next year a 12 yo little girl asked to go to the bathroom and this a*****e asked her in class if she was gonna bleed to death. I was told this by a teacher that I've known for 50 yrs now that saw her in the hallway crying. That man is so lucky that I don't have girls. His contact was NOT renewed!
Guess Undheit 22 minutes ago
REPORT HIM AND OUT HIM PUBLICLY. It's creepy, and it's a form of sexual abuse. Males make up only 25% of US school teachers, but they make up 89.1% of teachers arrested for sexual assault. [ https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/protecting-children-from-sexual-abuse/202305/educator-sexual-misconduct-remains-prevalent-in ] There are 28,500 gym teachers in the US out of 3,800,000 teachers. That's only 0.75% of teachers, yet they make up 19.7% of those arrested for sexual abuse. [ https://www.zippia.com/physical-education-teacher-jobs/demographics/ ] [ https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/Physical-Education-Teacher-Salary ] This proves once again that cisgender heterosexual males are the problem and the danger to children, especially to girls.
CanadianDimes 1 hour ago
The only person tracking someone’s menstrual cycle should be that person.
whineygingercat 1 hour ago
In middle school, there was a female gym teacher who would stare at the girls when we changed for class. When I had her for gym, I told mom about it. She didn't believe me. The following year, my sister had this exact same issue. Mom's response: during progress report pick up, she told the gym teacher that if she ever heard that the teacher was staring at my sister again, it'd be the last thing this teacher ever did.
Sebastian Scholler 3 hours ago
For me, it´s weird to have a male PE teacher for girls. I´m Generation X and in my country PE was always separated in girls (with a female teacher) and boys (with a male teacher).
BrownEyedPanda 3 hours ago
The guy is a perv. Why else would he be documenting girls' menstrual cycles, unless he's an OB-GYN? OP should definitely tell her parents what's going on. They'll be able to deal with this situation much better than if she dealt with it on her own. There also needs to be a thorough background check made; it's possible that this teacher left a previous school under suspicious circumstances regarding this kind of behavior.
Livingwithcfs 6 hours ago
This is very creepy behavior and she needs to go to tge police sexual abuse team. This is extreme concerning behavior that I feel neither the school or parents will take seriously enough. If other girls have mentioned this behavior it shows a trend and I'd guess he will have stepped over that line to SA on some. I wish I was joking but there is plenty of evidence in recent history of this happening. I'm honestly scared for all of the girls in tgat school. If someone in the community knows this girl or tge school please report this
Yu Pan 6 hours ago (edited)
I wouldn't be surprised if this girl lives in Asia. They are really obsessed with women's period because they think women are trying to cheat out of class/work. In one of the Asian countries, women finally were allowed to take 2 days a month specifically for cramps and even though it is not required by the law, many companies would require "proof/doctors note" to grant the days off. Often companies just flat out denied it. Living in US this kind of invasion of privacy is totally unheard of and probably outright discriminatory, but unfortunately it is quite common in other parts of the world and I'm sorry that unless there's a cultural change in the society, no suggestions the commenters provided (going to parents, teachers, nurses, counselors, CPS, etc--what we deemed to be standard key players in a girl student's life here in US is grossly lacking/powerless in Asia) will be able to actually help her. The best she can hope for is to get out of that school, sooner rather than later.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 4 hours ago
I checked OP's comments on Reddit, and she says she lives in Europe. She wasn't any more specific than that, though.
Load More Replies... Ben Aziza 11 hours ago
Dude is indeed creepy with the whole tracking periods s**t... I mean why even do that? I would be watching this guy... Definitly worth an investigation but not a witch hunt yet... As part of me think there is a tiny probably the "rumors" are introducing the possibility of prejudgment which could be ruining an innocent man's life. It is just unsubstantiated rumors are bad and muddy things a lot... Again tho I am 85% leaning on the creep with s**t to hide so... Look find and something concrete and lock that thing up if it is a predator! There is no explination i can come up with to be tracking periods of all the students... I know some do that for competitors even THEN the ppl involved do that themselves! Watch this guy! CLOSLY!
LaserBrain 11 hours ago (edited)
When I was in school, the girls' PE teachers were women. Doesn't that make more sense?
Ben Aziza 11 hours ago (edited)
Ehhh...No it does not make more sense to me... Cus this is ultimately sex based segregation and the sexual orientation is what counts for these kinda creepy sexual predator crimes.... The lesbians/gay predators would feast either way... Because ppl would trust them... Remember the whole "vow of chastity" priests and how they used that to rape boys over and over and get away with it? Well Nuns do that too... and Imams but that is general abuse of power as they "won" their society and everyone in their cmmunities is under them they JUST KEEP pushing to reduce the age of concent to match mohammed's in so many places... Many more examples exist... Those are outdated conservative concepts. Splitting ppl by sex does nothing to solve this. Making vulnerable ppl aware of these predators helps. Sex ed helps!
Load More Replies... John Harrison 7 hours ago
1. This fictional gym teacher is definitely a perv. 2. Understandable that you would WANT to keep track of students' excuses for missing class. Some girls use their periods to miss as many gym classes as possible. But you just don't do it. Because it's their periods, and it's Fing creepy. Heck, in this day and age, just don't be a male gym teacher for females at all.
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