Florida Student Threatened With Suspension Over Breast Cancer Bracelet

Freedom of speech keeps slipping away....www.foxnews.com...

Florida school officials says a breast cancer awareness bracelet worn by a teenager has become a huge distrA $4 bracelet is getting one Florida student into big trouble after, he says, his school objected to the bracelet's anti-cancer messages.

Fourteen-year-old Frankie Rodriguez had been wearing the bracelet around his wrist for the past month. It reads, "I love boobies" and "Keep A Breast."

School officials at Tomlin Middle School say its a huge distraction, but Rodriguez says he wears the bracelet to support family members who have fought breast cancer.

"They just took it as sexual, and it wasn't anything like that at all," he told MyFoxOrlando.com.

Last Friday, school officials took the bracelet away, but later returned it. Then on Monday, he wore the bracelet to school again, and administrators threatened him with suspension when he didn't turn it over.

"The student was disciplined for being disrespectful and inappropriate behavior because he was disrespectful to the teacher and school resource officer. It was not about the bracelet itself," school spokesperson Linda Cobbe told MyFoxOrlando.com.

With the school threatening suspension, Frankie has decided not to wear the bracelet anymore.

"I kind of just don't want to get into trouble anymore," he told MyFoxOrlando.com.
action.

Another citizen beaten down and supressed for their opinion. I am so glad I don't have kids in the Social/Penial School system.

Where in the heck is that reset button??



[edit on 31-3-2010 by Grayelf2009]

Sounds like he's just trying to be cute and funny with the bracelet, trying to be all cool with his friends like look what I can get away with, and his back up plan is just to say it's for a good cause.

If you wan to wear a breast cancer awareness bracelet that's cool, but a bracelet that says "I love boobies!" isn't really classy....

I wish this surprised me. My only hope is that this kid gets over this and realizes he can fight back against authority, instead of mindlessly following. It would be interesting to see in ten years if this kid becomes a sheep or a wolf.

Funny, it was a school... isn't biology taught there?

They should know better of the context implied.

Mistaking a medical context for a sexual context is stupid.

Originally posted by Republican08

If you wan to wear a breast cancer awareness bracelet that's cool, but a bracelet that says "I love boobies!" isn't really classy....

When was the last time you saw a 14 year old be classy? Of course he was getting off on boobies on the bracelet, but that doesn't mean he wasn't wearing it to support family.

Originally posted by oppaperclip

Originally posted by Republican08

If you wan to wear a breast cancer awareness bracelet that's cool, but a bracelet that says "I love boobies!" isn't really classy....

When was the last time you saw a 14 year old be classy? Of course he was getting off on boobies on the bracelet, but that doesn't mean he wasn't wearing it to support family.

A 14 year old boy wearing a bracelet saying "I LOVE BOOBIES", yes obviously he didn't think anything sexual about that, cause you know boys in puberty never think about that stuff.

Cant allow something sexually offensive in schools. I'm sure this kid could of found many other slogans to brandish for the cause. The maturity levels already low enough, he coulda flashed it to a few female students with some kinda creepy saying thinking it would draw positive attention, committing sexual harassment without a second thought.

I don't get it.

We all have breasts.

They are just dead flesh.

Who cares? Why is exposed dead flesh, or a term used to describe them, offensive?

The way cancer awareness organizations are going about advertising is becoming questionable to me, and apparently our younger generations are picking up on it.

There is actually a Feel Your Boobies campaign, and they produce quite a bit of merchandise to advertise it.

Although someone of mature age can understand the context in which such substance is displayed, others may not, and (at risk of playing devil's advocate) I can understand where the school system is coming from.

Personally, I say if the kid is serious about displaying his support of his family members battle with breast cancer, he should probably pick something a little more appropriate for his age group.

Originally posted by Republican08

Originally posted by oppaperclip

Originally posted by Republican08

If you wan to wear a breast cancer awareness bracelet that's cool, but a bracelet that says "I love boobies!" isn't really classy....

When was the last time you saw a 14 year old be classy? Of course he was getting off on boobies on the bracelet, but that doesn't mean he wasn't wearing it to support family.

A 14 year old boy wearing a bracelet saying "I LOVE BOOBIES", yes obviously he didn't think anything sexual about that, cause you know boys in puberty never think about that stuff.

What 14 year old gets worked up over a bracelet? Come on guy...

I can see the kid and his peers finding it funny for a day or two, but beyond that...they must be some lame a** kids.

[edit on 1-4-2010 by SmokeandShadow]

Free Speech should apply to students as well, the idea that free speech should be suspended for students as they are being educated by the government is frightening for various and what I see as obvious reasons.

Government education + not being able to have free speech during that education = bad.