Rapid response: I (HEART) … school rules vs. free speech

Question: The American Civil Liberties Union is backing a lawsuit filed against Twin Lakes School Corp., which asked a Roosevelt Middle School eighth-grader to remove a breast cancer awareness bracelet -- which read "I (Heart) Boobies" -- or turn it inside out. The suit contends that wearing the bracelet was a matter of free speech and should have been allowed. What's your take?

• As correctly stated in Tinker v. Des Moines, First Amendment speech rights apply to youths as well as adults and don't end at the schoolhouse door. Twin Lakes' decision to threaten expulsion for doing something so harmless boggles the mind and embarrasses the corporation.

Frank Arnold

Lafayette

• Hasn't this all been covered before? Under free speech, students are allowed to wear arguably offensive T-shirts as long as the district retained the right to make sure the shirts don't cause a disruption of the school process. The same will apply to the breast cancer awareness bracelets.

Edward Priest

Battle Ground

• Breasts. Now there's something controversial. Next it'll be elbows. Or fingers. Middle fingers, even.

Jason Dufair

West Lafayette

• Either support the rules/dress codes established by your schools, be a part of changing the rules (without lawsuits) or home-school your children. I'm a breast cancer survivor and dislike that slogan because I find the wording demeaning -- even though the intention is good. There are better ways to fight cancer and exercise free speech.

Jane Anderson

West Lafayette

• Where do you draw the line? How far will attention-getters take you? Do you think he was wearing that bracelet for what it said or for what it stood for?

Mark Acles

Lafayette

• What part of "no" do these kids/parents not understand? Rules are rules. That's why no guns, knives, etc., are allowed in school. Cancer has nothing to do with "I (Heart) Boobies." Imagine a doctor telling a woman "Gee, Mrs. Jones, sorry, you have boobie cancer!"

Cliff Davenport

Rossville

• Would it have been "free speech" if the same boy went down the hall at school just saying the words. Can we call the word "bomb" at the airport free speech? I would not allow my child to wear the bracelet to school. The words are not appropriate in school.

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Shelby Branstetter

Lafayette

• The school is fighting a battle it did not need to take on. All it did was make a cause celebre of the student, which was exactly what he was striving for. Common sense is such a lacking commodity. I assume this school has no other "issues" that need attention versus this earth-shattering situation.

Bud Wang

Lafayette

• If this is a legitimate charity for breast cancer research, it is protected free speech. Bad taste and no class still is protected speech.

Furman A. Powell

Lafayette

• Catholic charities are being forced by the federal government to go against their theological convictions and provide support for birth control. In the meantime, the ACLU courageously stands against local school board authority to regulate classroom conduct and champions a teenager's right to tacky fashion accessories. Is that Nero's fiddle I hear?

Eric Schlene

West Lafayette

• Three things I would bet a significant amount of money on: 1. Whoever told the student he didn't want it in his school has never lost a mother, or wife, to breast cancer. 2. Administrators are not paying for the ensuing litigation. 3. It probably wasn't a girl wearing the bracelet, which brings up a whole other issue.

Jim Derringer

Lafayette

• To provide an environment conducive to learning, we ask our schools to define and enforce codes of conduct, dress and speech. When gray areas arise in the interpretation of these codes, I think we should generally back the school administrators and save our concerns for an annual review of the codes.

Jim Cook

Delphi

• If the kid is running around hollering, "Look! It says boobies!," then maybe you do something. Otherwise, take it easy, everybody. In 1970, I was sent home from school for the heinous crime of not having a belt on, while teachers were measuring guys' sideburns and girls' skirts. Seems silly now.

Rick Mummey

Lafayette

• I think public schools have the responsibility to maintain some standards of decency, norms and non-disruption of education when it comes to clothing and language allowed in school. But "boobies?" Do they actually listen to students in the hallways?

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Noemi Ybarra

Lafayette

• There is freedom of speech, and then there is good judgment. We substitute words to convey what we wished we could say all the time on TV. A school is where we send our children to teach them civility and how to apply good judgment. Apparently the ACLU doesn't get it.

E. Lloyd Wells

Lafayette

• I've always believed that free speech demands good taste supporting any point. By anyone's standards, this cannot be considered in good taste. I support breast cancer awareness. Loved ones dear to my heart have suffered from breast cancer, but "boobies" lowers the taste standard. They're breasts, not boobies.

Tom Haynie

Buffalo

• I'd like to know why they made those bracelets with those words on them in the first place.

Kevin Spires

Lafayette

• If we didn't have government-run schools, this wouldn't be a problem. Civil liberties would not be implicated because this would be a private dispute over the terms of the contract between the school and the student.

Rob Keeney

Flora

• I think breast cancer is a serious and sensitive matter to those who have had it. The bracelet borders on being inappropriate for a student, or an adult for that matter. There are many ways to show your support for breast cancer awareness without making fun of it.

Dennis Donoho

Sedalia

• I agree with the school's actions. It's time to use some common sense here. If it's disruptive or profane, it shouldn't be allowed in school. It is, however, time for frivolous lawsuits to reap some consequences for those who pursue them.

Christopher D. Fullerton

Reynolds

• Today we seem to be able to make a mountain out of the smallest molehill. We all need to lighten up on the small stuff and focus on solving our really big problems -- ones that put our whole country at risk of collapse.

Carl V. Covely Jr.

Sheffield Township

•
Most schools have rules against wearing clothing that depicts alcohol, tobacco and gang symbols. If we allow students to break this rule this time, then we might as well allow them to wear whatever they want. There are other ways to show support for breast cancer awareness than this bracelet.

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Terry Smith

Shadeland

• In this case, as the message on the bracelet is deliberately suggestive (albeit for a good cause), it is appropriate for the school to disallow it. Allowing it would open a floodgate of slogans that are nominally for good causes but suggestive. This is middle school after all.

Randy Myer

Lafayette

• I believe the school has the right set and enforce rules. Would it be all right for a student to yell out, "I love boobies," in school? Is that free speech, and should it be allowed? I don't think so. There are much more important issues to tackle than this.

Jon Sexson

Lafayette

• The ACLU really needs to be banned from the United States of America. But, if the ACLU were in any other country on the planet, it would have been dissolved 50 years ago as political enemies against national security. Isn't this a great country?

Tom Anderson

Lafayette

• Clearly, not everything that is "speech" is protected by the First Amendment, which reads, "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech." Twin Lakes School Corp. is not Congress. I hope it re-reads the Constitution, then sends the ACLU packing. What an excellent teaching opportunity.

Jon Held

Lafayette

• Neither the teachers, nor the students, really have free speech in school. If this weren't a popular charity, would we be having this discussion? A no boobies policy is every bit as appropriate as banning "God hates fags" shirts. School is not the place to make political or religious statements.

Scott Schnarr

Rossville

• It is a matter of free speech, but the courts have time and again given schools leeway to blunt this kind of thing. From dress codes on T-shirts to censoring student newspapers, the courts almost always side with the school. If I ran the school, I would allow it, but then the only words the offend me are the ones written to censor others.

Mike Dudgeon

Lafayette

• If the boy can't wear it because of his gender, then girls can't wear it because of sexual preference. Sounds fair to me.

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Ray Faber

Crawfordsville

• I know the money is going for breast cancer research, but my grandson, who is a freshman in high school, wears one and all his friends wear one, and they like it because it says, "I love boobies." To him, it doesn't have anything to do with awareness of breast cancer. I wish he would not wear it because I don't think he and others are wearing it to raise awareness of breast cancer. Breast cancer is not a joke.

Jean Wichterman

Lafayette

• The school has a right to limit distractions to the learning environment. An eighth-grade boy wearing anything with "boobies" is a distraction. Life is very hard on people who fight every injustice to this degree. Sadly, his parents are missing an opportunity to teach him this valuable lesson. Mom and dad are the problem here, not their son.

Tim Delworth

West Lafayette

• This is just another classic example of the ACLU backing anything titillating (pun completely intended). It is a statement promoting "breast awareness" as much as "breast cancer awareness," as a letter-writer penned last week. The double entendre is completely intended and if the bracelet is causing a distraction, then it should be removed. If incessant giggling has not resulted from its presence, then leave it alone -- they are giving more attention in a negative way and the fight against breast cancer does not need that, either.

Carol Sikler

Lafayette

• We are in the North Montgomery County School Corp. My nephew had the same response. I think it's absolutely ridiculous. I think that more important issues should be addressed in today's school systems. 1. The dress attire for the young ladies is atrocious. Mini skirts that you can almost see their underwear. Tops cut so low to see cleavage. Not to mention the young men who wear pants to their knees. It's disgusting and vulgar. So what if a student wears a bracelet that states, "I (Heart) Boobies?" Maybe his/her grandmother, mother, aunt, sister, cousin, or close friend is a survivor! You don't know that. Or simply he/she likes boobies and wants to let everyone know that. At least he/she is not going around touching women's breasts! Really! Geesh!

Julie Thompson

New Richmond

• Fighting the battle for purity of language is a lost cause. It would behoove schools to communicate in the students' language if they wish to impart information. Judging by the state government's evisceration of our educational system, I have no doubt they'll come up with a verbal version of the chastity belt.

Ed Posey

West Lafayette

• Even a blind squirrel (the ACLU) finds an acorn once in a while.

Jason Roehl

Lafayette

• Where are the parents of this child? The ACLU has gotten out of hand. This type of thing is wasting court time and taxpayer money. I am glad the school administrators have some backbone. Too bad they have to parent this child as to appropriate behavior in school.

Dan Sommers

West Lafayette

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Rapid response: I (HEART) ... school rules vs. free speech