Tournament Directors, Keep a Box of Tampons and/or Pads in Your Control Room

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meebles127
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Tournament Directors, Keep a Box of Tampons and/or Pads in Your Control Room

Post by meebles127 »

For schools that do not having tampon/pad vending machines in their bathrooms, tournament directors should make an effort to have some of these products in their control room in the event that a player or other event participant needs one. These should be given free of charge, and in an ideal world, I would sit them on a table or desk just outside of the control room so an event participant in need of one doesn't need to ask anybody.

This is a small, cheap, and relatively low-effort idea that could help make quizbowl more inclusive and welcoming.
Em Gunter
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Re: Tournament Directors, Keep a Box of Tampons and/or Pads in Your Control Room

Post by Perturbed Secretary Bird »

Yes! Cosign! Thank you for bringing this up, Em. I brought period supplies to NSC and we had them available near the info desk if I remember right. Definitely don't only put them in women's restrooms since not all of us who menstruate are women. I could also see it being awkward to ask a predominantly-male control room for pads, so I particularly like the table idea (but could also see people not wanting to grab something like that in a hallway full of mostly-male competitors). If anyone has feedback about better places to put them please say so here.

Email me at [email protected] and I will personally mail you supplies if you can't buy them for your team.

ETA: Not sure about the legality of supplying medicines if you're in a school setting, but in theory it would also be nice to have painkillers on hand (in addition to cough drops) just generally.
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Re: Tournament Directors, Keep a Box of Tampons and/or Pads in Your Control Room

Post by meebles127 »

In addition to pads and tampons I think having a TD box with basic supplies would be a great idea. I've started a list here:

Tampons/Pads
Band-Aids
Kleenex
Masks
Hand Sanitizer
Cough Drops
OTC Pain Killers (I personally would not feel comfortable giving minors medication at a HS tournament, but I see nothing wrong with giving it to an adult coach who could then give it to a minor participant)
Em Gunter
Club President, University of Virginia
Tournament Director, 2023 Chicago Open
Assistant Tournament Director, 2022 and 2023 ACF Nationals

Author of: My Guide to High School Outreach and So You Want to Buy a Buzzer System

"That's got to be one of the most useful skills anyone has ever gotten from quizbowl." -John Lawrence
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Re: Tournament Directors, Keep a Box of Tampons and/or Pads in Your Control Room

Post by alexdz »

Perturbed Secretary Bird wrote: Tue Feb 15, 2022 12:32 pm If anyone has feedback about better places to put them please say so here.
This isn't something I've done, but just thinking. What about if there was a box or tub sitting on an easily-accessible table that contained all of the things that Em listed in the previous post? And then, crucially, there was a sign or poster that said something like "Supply Center -- Take What You Need" followed by a list of what you can get there. Someone who needs a period supply can get it there, but also anyone who needs to grab a tissue, a bandaid, a fresh mask, or anything like that. It's not so obvious to the casual passerby what any person is grabbing, but keeps it freely available to anyone without needing to ask for it.

Re: giving medication to minors. I know that at the school where I teach, we always have to call parents to get permission to give the kids any medication like Tylenol. (Obviously we can administer emergency meds or inhalers and things they're prescribed, as parents have to send those to us.) Every state, district, and school has its own policy, I'm sure, but even if technically allowed, I'd be very wary of what are essentially unknown adults giving minors medication without parent permission. Tournaments should consider always adopting the policy of going through the coach/chaperone for any medical needs beyond a bandaid or cough drop.
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Re: Tournament Directors, Keep a Box of Tampons and/or Pads in Your Control Room

Post by Stained Diviner »

Do not give any medicine including cough drops to minors without clear parent permission, and even giving it indirectly through a coach is not a good idea unless you know the coach has parent permission. It's still a good idea to have that on hand in case an adult wants it, but don't leave it in a public area.
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Re: Tournament Directors, Keep a Box of Tampons and/or Pads in Your Control Room

Post by The Favourite »

alexdz wrote: Tue Feb 15, 2022 8:08 pm
Perturbed Secretary Bird wrote: Tue Feb 15, 2022 12:32 pm If anyone has feedback about better places to put them please say so here.
This isn't something I've done, but just thinking. What about if there was a box or tub sitting on an easily-accessible table that contained all of the things that Em listed in the previous post? And then, crucially, there was a sign or poster that said something like "Supply Center -- Take What You Need" followed by a list of what you can get there. Someone who needs a period supply can get it there, but also anyone who needs to grab a tissue, a bandaid, a fresh mask, or anything like that. It's not so obvious to the casual passerby what any person is grabbing, but keeps it freely available to anyone without needing to ask for it.

Better yet, could there be a room with such supplies, sans medication (preferably adjacent to the control room), so that a person could enter discretely and exit with what was needed without losing any sense of autonomy?

I fully endorse the implementation of this idea nationwide in any possible way.
Tracey Hickman
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