A popular slogan supporting breast cancer awareness is causing problems at high schools across the country and in Kern County. “I heart boobies” is on bracelets, t-shirts and bumper stickers. Is it a breast cancer awareness campaign or a joke?
“I wear mine because my cousin had breast cancer and so did my aunt," said Aryn Clark, a junior at Bakersfield High School.
"For guys I guess, it's just funny. We're just seeing how far we can get away with things at school I guess,” said junior Matthew Moorehead.
At local high schools you can find plenty of guys like Moorehead wearing the "I heart boobies" bracelets. And that's when school officials have a problem with it. “If that bracelet is on the wrist of an 18-year-old senior girl who lost her grandmother to breast cancer, that's one thing. If that bracelet is on the wrist of a freshman boy it might be another,” said Kern High School District Spokesman John Teves.
The Kern High School District doesn't ban the bracelets, but on a case by case basis teachers may ask some students to turn them inside out. Some local high schools, however, have banned them, including Independence and Stockdale High Schools.
“I don't think that would be fair. It is kind of out there, like boobies, it's kind of out there, but I just think that it wouldn't be fair. I'd still wear it,” said Clark.
The bracelets are made by the Keep A Breast Foundation, a non-profit whose main goal is to raise awareness about breast cancer. But whether the bracelets are banned or not one thing is certain, the "I heart boobies" slogan is getting a lot of publicity.
"It's a funny saying or whatnot, but really it's going for a good cause,” said Jason Ariye a high school senior.
