YELM, Wash. (KIRO) – A middle schooler in Washington state is pushing for change at her school district after she was not allowed to use the restroom while she was on her period.
Byllie Eighinger-Lemm, 13, said she was humiliated over the incident at Yelm Middle School.
Byllie said she told her teacher she was on her period and asked to go to the bathroom, but her teacher refused to let her go. Byllie had already used her allotted bathroom passes for class.
“I was like, ‘But I need to go to the bathroom. I’m on my period and I need to go change my pad.’ I was straight up with her, and then she was like, ‘Go sit down,’” Byllie said.
Byllie said she then went to the bathroom anyway, without permission, after she began to bleed through her clothes.
For that, Byllie said school employees sent her to in-school suspension and made her grab her things in front of her class.
“I knew that it [blood] was visible and that they could see it, and it was really embarrassing. And then I was kind of scared because I was getting in trouble,” she said.
Byllie’s father, Bill Lemm, said he is furious over the situation. He said his daughter was in tears when he picked her up from school.
“She missed [school] for the rest of the week due to embarrassment,” Lemm said.
He wants answers for how his daughter was treated.
“That teacher, by demoralizing her the way she did… There’s no fixing that,” he said.
In a statement, a district official said they are aware of the situation and are investigating.
Byllie hopes sharing her story leads to permanent change.
“Just knowing that she won’t do that to any other kid and knowing that that could happen to someone younger than me. That’s like, kind of like heartbreaking,” she said.
Her father agrees.
“If you can make change to the system, then you did something good here,” he said.
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