(Thumbnail Image: Zumiez.com)

BY GRACE MEINERS

HUNTER COOPER: “It’s meant to raise awareness, and it’s not meant to be degrading toward anyone.” (CNN)

They are bracelets -- with a catchy phrase to be sure -- “I Love Boobies” -- meant to raise awareness of and support for breast cancer patients and survivors.  But that’s where a problem arises.  

15-year-old sophomore Hunter Cooper wanted to wear his “I Love Boobies” bracelet to class at Rocklin High School in order to raise awareness of breast cancer throughout the month of August. The same month his grandmother died from the disease.   The school said no.

We’re looking at perspectives from CNN, HLN, KMAX, Keep A Breast Foundation, and Jezebel.

Principal Mike Garrison told HLN although the school supports raising cancer awareness, the language on the bracelets is inappropriate for the classroom.

 “We support the cause 100 percent, but it’s the language on the bracelet. When you use the term ‘boobies,’ we find, and many people find it offensive.”

According to KMAX in Sacramento, the school asked him to take the bracelet off, and he did. When they asked him to turn to bracelet over to them, he refused. Now, he has the choice between Saturday school or one day of on-campus suspension.

HUNTER COOPER: “I don’t see the point of why I should have to take this off when it’s for a good cause.”

“I was surprised because I was just like, ‘Wow. There’s not really a good reason for me to take it off.’”

Cooper’s mother, who watched her parents battle different types of cancer, told CNN she thinks the students deserve to have a conversation with school authorities about the bracelets.

“I think without having a discussion, and handing out penalties first, that’s a real problem.”

The bracelets were created by the Keep-A-Breast Foundation and cost about four dollars. According to its website the goal is to:

“...help eradicate breast cancer by exposing young people to methods of prevention, early detection and support.”

But critics say the foundation’s method of raising awareness is raising too many eyebrows. The blog Jezebel says the language on the bracelets is crude and distracting for a teen audience—the very demographic the campaign is targeting.

“These schools aren't, presumably, anti-cancer-awareness; they're opposed to a deliberately cheeky, arguably problematic marketing ploy specifically designed to appeal to teens. After all, if the message is that powerful, so's the double-entendre's other meaning, and that's the kind of thing that can degrade an atmosphere — fast.”

According to USA Today, the bracelets are causing controversy not only in California, but at schools in Colorado, Idaho, Florida, and Wisconsin. Some schools, like Rocklin, have banned the bracelets, while other districts allow students to wear them inside-out.

So, what do you think?  Are schools over-reacting?  Or is this a misguided campaign?