A Washington middle school student was suspended after defying a teacher who allegedly denied her permission to use the bathroom, despite her visibly bleeding in the class.
The incident escalated when Byllie Eighinger-Lemm, 13, started her period while sitting in class at Yelm Middle School in Yelm, Washington, KIRO 7 reported. When she realized what was happening, Eighinger-Lemm informed her teacher and asked to use the restroom.
Despite the teacher hearing the situation, she allegedly did not grant the teen permission. Eighinger-Lemm defied the teacher and left to use the bathroom, ultimately resulting in her being suspended.
"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,'" Eighinger-Lemm told the outlet.
Following the suspension, Eighinger-Lemm expressed feeling humiliated having bled through her clothes.
"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.
The girl's father, Bill Lemm, voiced his outrage over the treatment of his daughter, resulting in an internal investigation.
"She missed [school] for the rest of the week due to embarrassment," Lemm said. "That teacher, by demoralizing her the way she did... There's no fixing that."
Following the incident, the teacher was placed on administrative leave as the district reviews the matter further.
"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," Eighinger-Lemm said.
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