Stephanie Lovett-Bowman, Thursday, December 09, 2010 | Filed under: First Amendment, Discipline
A Kansas high school has attracted the attention of the American Civil Liberties Union after banning a controversial bracelet and suspending a student who violated the ban. After getting complaints, Junction City High School’s principal recently told students not to wear the bracelets, which read “I (heart) boobies!” A breast cancer awareness foundation produces the bracelets, as well as t-shirts with the same slogan. While the charity has hoped to utilize the eye-catching slogan to encourage involvement by teenagers, the bracelets have been banned at multiple schools across the country. The Junction City student who refused to take off his bracelet was suspended for two days.
On Wednesday, the ACLU sent the high school a letter threatening legal action, alleging a violation of the student’s First Amendment rights. The threat is probably not an empty one – the ACLU filed suit in Easton, Pennsylvania last month against a school district that suspended two students for wearing the same bracelets despite a ban. The following link provides the full story: http://tinyurl.com/2ecz4n2