In an effort to avoid further disruption, Medomak Valley High School has decided to allow students to wear breast cancer awareness bracelets with the slogan “I [heart] boobies.”
The issue garnered media attention last week after several students were suspended for refusing to take the bracelets off. At the time, school officials said the bracelets carry a sexual connotation and are a distraction.
They have since decided that banning the bracelets creates more of a distraction than the bracelets themselves and will allow students to wear them, said SAD 40 Supt. Susan Pratt on Sept. 26.
Students started wearing the bracelets, which have already been the subject of controversy at schools in several other states, last spring. At that time, the district decided the bracelets should not be allowed in SAD 40 schools.
According to several sources, courts in other states ruled that banning the “I [heart] boobies” bracelets constituted an unfair violation of students’ freedom of speech.
This fall, when the booby bracelets returned to school with students, school officials began enforcing the ban.
One parent said 12 students were suspended – seven in-school and five out-out-school – but Pratt could not confirm the number of suspended students. She said all the suspensions came in the last two weeks.
Last week, the issue drew increased attention and on Sept. 22, school and district officials met and decided to allow the bracelets, Pratt said.
Several of the students involved said they wear the bracelets in support of friends and family members who have died or suffer from cancer. They said that although perhaps as many as three quarters of MVHS students wear the bracelets, only a handful of them do so for any reason other than support for the cause.
Prior to last week’s decision to allow the bracelets, students who agreed to turn the bracelets inside out were not suspended, Pratt said.
Pratt emphasized that MVHS and the district support breast cancer awareness – and in fact had already planned a series of awareness activities in the coming weeks – but took issue with the specific language on the bracelets.
“We really want to focus on education,” Pratt said. “Banning the bracelets was becoming a distraction.”
She said it’s hard to tell whether media attention caused more students to wear the bracelets or the other way around, but said media attention contributed to the distraction caused by the bracelets.
Pratt said an announcement will be made to tell students that the ban has been lifted, but did not know when. One parent said no announcement had been made as of Sept. 26.
MVHS Principal Harold Wilson could not be reached for comment.
