James Van Der Beek Encourages Dads to Talk to Their Daughters About Periods

James Van Der Beek is putting the spotlight on period poverty this week and the important roles dads play when it comes to talking to their daughters about menstruation.

The Dawson’s Creek star who’s also a dad to four daughters and one son has teamed up with Walmart and sanitary product brand Always for the #EndPeriodPoverty campaign. Their aim is to donate 1.5 million pads to girls in need across America by the end of January.

“So… Dads. Remember when we first learned about periods in school, and everybody kind of squirmed and tried to pretend it wasn’t happening?” the actor writes in an Insta post.

“Turns out that approach can have a detrimental effect on our daughters. So let’s step up and chip away at the stigma around this. Studies show that many young girls’ confidence plummets around the time of their first period, but that engaging in your daughter’s life, and treating her period like the normal, healthy thing that it is can help. A lot.”

 

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In this country, right now, 1 in 5 girls are missing school and extracurricular activities they love because they lack access to period products. This is not okay. And pretending this problem doesn’t exist isn’t going to make it any better. That’s why I’ve #partnered with @always_brand and @walmart on their mission to raise awareness and #EndPeriodPoverty. Here’s how it works: Watch the video in the link in my bio about these incredible, inspiring girls, and for every view during the month of January, a pad donation will be made up to ONE MILLION pads to keep girls in the activities they love! On top of that, for every comment or share of this post, they’ll donate a month’s supply of pads to girls in need, up to an additional HALF A MILLION pads! So let’s get talking about this – because it’s not just about pads, it’s about bringing attention to this issue and chipping away at the stigma around something that is natural, healthy, necessary and unavoidable. Time to normalize what’s normal!

A post shared by James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) on Jan 9, 2020 at 5:53pm PST

Right now, 1 in 5 girls in the United States skip school because they don’t have access to the products they need.

“Never really thought about that?” Van Der Beek asks. “Neither did I. But now that we know, let’s do something about it!”

The actor is encouraging his fans to like and share a video about how dads can engage with their daughters about menstruation – and the best bit is that for each like, comment or share, Always and Walmart will donate a pad to a girl in need, up to one million pads.

Check out the video below:

 

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So… Dads. Remember when we first learned about periods in school, and everybody kind of squirmed and tried to pretend it wasn’t happening? Turns out that approach can have a detrimental effect on our daughters. So let’s step up and chip away at the stigma around this. Studies show that many young girls’ confidence plummets around the time of their first period, but that engaging in your daughter’s life, and treating her period like the normal, healthy thing that it is can help. A lot. As can not having to miss school and extracurricular activities they love because of lack of access to period products – which is currently happening to 1 in 5 girls IN THIS COUNTRY. Never really thought about that? Neither did I. But now that we know, let’s do something about it! During the month of January, for every view of the @always_brand and @walmart #EndPeriodPoverty video FROM LINK IN MY BIO, a pad donation will be made to girls in need up to 1 MILLION! You can comment or tag a dad (or coach, teacher, administrator or lawmaker or any guy you love), so they can see this video, and for every comment on or share of this post, more pads will be donated, up to half a million MORE pads. So please be sure to click the link in my bio to watch the video and also to get tips (from professionals) about how to engage with your girl on this topic. Time to normalize what’s normal!

A post shared by James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames) on Jan 14, 2020 at 5:33pm PST