I Boobies Bracelets Respectfully Allowed

Two years ago, then sophomore Sara Dickinson, felt that students at Nathan Hale-Ray High School shouldn’t “be punished for supporting a cause” after she was banned from wearing the controversial “I <heart> boobies” bracelets.

The brightly colored bracelets were originally created by the Keep A Breast Foundation to support breast cancer awareness, but the wearing of the bracelets quickly led to a discussion on students’ rights for those students wishing to wear the bracelets to school and on a school's right to ban clothing they deemed inappropriate in a learning environment.

During the time the bracelets became popular teenage accessories, schools in several states had banned the bracelets for their inappropriate language, many citing that it was the language and not the cause that was the root of the bans.

Nathan Hale-Ray High School principal Eric Spencer was one of the principals who, nearly two years ago, banned bracelets like the ones Dickinson was wearing saying that it wasn’t students supporting a charity that was the issue, but the language itself.

"What is banned is the visible inappropriate language," he said, “if this language was on a shirt, it would be treated the same way."

It was not, as Dickinson claimed when she brought up the issue to the Board of Education, a specific ban on the Breast Cancer Awareness Bracelets themselves.

After not getting the resolution she had hoped for, Dickinson took her pleas to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to fight to wear the bracelet in school, as determined by the right to free speech. She was not alone; the ACLU also got involved in many other similar cases, some even ending up in federal court.

Two years later, the ACLU sent this letter to the East Haddam School District on Dickinson’s behalf, citing several cases on the issue and reminding the district "of students' First Amendment rights and asking for assurance that students would be allowed to wear the bracelets.”

The East Haddam School District, in response to the concerns about being able to wear these specific bracelets, has determined that it is the start of a new school year and that students will have the opportunity to respectfully and maturely support the causes of their choice if they choose to wear the bracelets like these to school, according to Superintendent Mary Beth Iacobelli.

“The cause was never the issue,” said Iacobelli, “it was the students’ behavior in response to the bracelets and the disruption to the learning environment that was the concern.”

When asked about how she felt about her fight to be able to wear the "I <heart> boobies" bracelets in school, Dickinson said "...I learned that if you believe in something strongly enough and are willing to fight for what's right, then one person really can change the community."

"I also learned that, even as a teenager, I still can have a voice that will be heard."