School bans breast cancer bracelets

Students at Willows Intermediate School can no longer wear a breast cancer awareness bracelet that reads "I Love Boobies."

Others have a heart symbol instead of the word love.

Principal Steve Sailsbery announced the ban at the end of the day on Aug. 25.

"It's clever," Sailsbery admitted, "but it's not appropriate for middle school — grades 5 to 8 — and it offends some people."

He said fifth- and sixth-grade teachers told him after the announcement that many of their students said "they shouldn't wear that to school anyway."

Some sixth- and seventh-graders got upset and others — mainly boys — teachers told Sailsbery, giggled because the principal said "boobies."

Resource specialist Tammy Thomson, who teaches all grades at the school, said the 1-inch bracelets might support a great cause, but the large message is distracting.

She asked students to take off the bracelets the first time they were worn in class, she said.

Middle school "really isn't the place to have them," Thomson said Monday.

"The fact that these are young kids already going through puberty" is the main reason. "We don't need to feed the youthful angst."

Dianna Abold, who teaches seventh- and eighth-grades said, "I think the school made the right decision. It's not an appropriate saying in an intermediate school."

She too pointed to the students' ages.

"It's a great cause," Abold noted, but she is concerned that "it gives fifth- and sixth-graders too much exposure to that kind of language. I have a sixth-grader I would not want using that language."

Administrators and teachers agree that there needs to be awareness of breast cancer, but that there are better ways to present it to 10 to 13 year olds.

Sailsbery, staff and teachers said more boys than girls were wearing the bracelets.

"I don't think they were supporting breast cancer," Thomson said.

Sailsbery said that in October Breast Cancer Awareness Month — the school will to educate students with age-appropriate activities.

Student perspective

Some students agreed that school is no place to wear a bracelet with the word "boobies." Others think the decision to ban them was stupid.

Olivia McClain, 12, echoed many of her peers.

"I don't understand why they banned them," she said, adding she thinks it was done because the administrators "don't understand why we wore them."

She said the bracelets support breast cancer awareness.

Richie Hernandez, 11, agreed.

"We should be allowed to them. They're not making fun of anything," he said.

On the other hand, he said, while the girls mostly wore the bracelets to support breast cancer awareness, for the boys, "it was more a fashion statement (or) just something to play around with."

Shaubham Dadhwal, 10, saw the bracelets as a distraction.

"People were playing around with them in class," he said. "They were flicking them at people like rubber bands."

Thirteen-year-old David Gonzalez said he wore the bracelet for two reasons: To support the cause and because "it said boobies."

He believes the bracelets were banned "because a lot of people were immature. Kids were laughing because it says "boobies."

Some older girls at the school have a different perspective.

Alexandra Ward, 12, thinks "It's not fair, because we're the people who get breast cancer."

Her friend, Kaitlyn Smith, 13, said, "all it meant to me was that I support breast cancer. I didn't care that it said 'boobies.'"

Smith, Ward and some of their friends pointed out that a portion of the cost of each bracelet "supports breast cancer."

In fact, Kimmy McAtee at Keep a Breast — the nonprofit organization selling the bracelets and other items with the saying — said, "50 percent of the sales go to Keep a Breast." None goes to the American Cancer Society or other cancer-research institutions, she acknowledged.

McAtee also acknowledged that pre- and early teens may not get the intended message

"At a junior-high level, we understand that appropriateness has been an issue," she said.

While "some find it negative, others find it positive," McAtee added. "We find young people want to be activists. At this age, you can really improve their lives."

"We think these bracelets are a positive style of communication. They are meant to start and engage a conversation."

Keep a Breast uses the money mainly for breast cancer awareness programs and events, a recent $250,000 grant from Emergen-C will provide funding for other organizations to develop programs.

Smith and Ward said they think the bracelets are a good idea because "they make people more aware."

Still, Ward admitted, "guys don't wear it for breast cancer."

Steven Torres, 13, said he would only wear one "to support the cancer association," but he also said most boys he knows wore them for other reasons.

Locally, the bracelets sell in the area for $5, but they are available from the same company online for $3.95.

How much goes to breast cancer awareness or related matters could not be immediately determined.

Contact Lydia Harris at 934-6800, 865-3110 or lharris@tcnpress.com.