About a year ago students at Sauk Prairie Middle School wore “I ♥ Boobies! (Keep A Breast)” bracelets from the Keep a Breast Foundation to school for months before the district banned them. One of them sued with the assistance of the ACLU for the bracelets to be reinstated.
However, a federal district court judge has denied a request by the ACLU of Wisconsin to end a ban on “I ♥ Boobies! (Keep A Breast)” bracelets at the Sauk Prairie Middle School. Furthermore, the court declared the Keep A Breast foundation's slogan as a "vulgar and sexually provocative statement."
The ACLU argued in response that "Our middle school client is dedicated to effectively and constructively educating her peers about breast cancer. It is disappointing that this decision will leave in place a ban on student speech that conveys our plaintiff’s belief that breast cancer is a critical women’s health issue of our time. The very purpose of the bracelets is to educate other young people about cancer prevention, testing, research and treatment."
There are some serious free speech, educational, and health issues here. Nothing to titter about here. What next? Will the school and Federal Court ban bras as "breast-related paraphenalia"? Will the local Hooters' have to close? Will Robin Redbreast be banned from the trees of Sauk Prairie?
I'm glad that the ACLU has chosen to make a clean breast of the issue. I guess the decision was nipple and tuck for a while before the court came to its odd conclusion. Perhaps they should adopt a theme song for the campaign ... how about Bob Hope's old theme, "Thanks for the Mammaries"?
ReplyDeleteSo much for schools encouraging students to get involved in society and engage with the concerns of the world they will live in. Yes, just leave it to Big Government or Big Corporations to do their thinking for them.
ReplyDelete"breast-related paraphenalia"
ReplyDeleteSounds like a class A felony to me.
A vulgar and sexually provocative statement? Not so.
ReplyDeleteI think the message is vulgar.
ReplyDeleteI see nothing wrong with the message. The students should be commended for their support.
ReplyDelete