Parents criticize school's purse ban

CEDAR LAKE, Ind., Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Parents at a high school in Cedar Lake, Ind., say a ban against purses in the classroom compromises their daughters' right to privacy.

At a packed school board meeting this week, Janet Brennan, mother of 15-year-old Kristin Lynch, demonstrated the difficulty of wedging feminine hygiene products into pockets already filled with pens, a calculator and other items, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday.

"Girls that age are easily embarrassed; they don't want people to know they have their period," Lynch said in opposing the no-purse policy at Hanover Central High. The rule against purses was added to an existing ban of book bags and backpacks, which must be stored in lockers.

Schools around the country have similar bans for security reasons, said Principal Robert McRae, adding he decided his school needed one after he saw girls carrying purses as big as backpacks, the Tribune reported.