A high school student in Florida claims she was humiliated by teachers who asked her to cover her “protruding” nipples with Band-Aids because they were a “distraction” to boys in her class.
Lizzy Martinez, 17, first shared her disgust via Twitter last Tuesday, saying she was “pulled out of class” for wearing no bra under a long-sleeved tee-shirt. She criticised Branden River High School for “sexualising” her body.
"I decided not to wear a bra today and got pulled out of class bc one of my teachers complained that it was a 'distraction to boys in my class'.
"My school basically told me that boys’ education is far more important than mine and I should be ashamed of my body," she tweeted on April 3.
"Stop sexualising my body," she added later.
Speaking to Bradenton Herald on Thursday, the teen said she was told by the school dean, Violeta Velazquez, to cover up and was given an extra shirt.
"She told me that I needed to put a shirt on under my long-sleeve shirt to try to tighten my breasts — to constrict them," Martinez said.
"And then she asked me to move around."
This was not all, however, with Martinez saying she was then sent to the nurses' room where she was given two Band-Aids to cover her nipples. By this time she was in tears.
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The 17-year-old told her mum, Kari Knop, about the school's requests while driving home after being picked up early due to her distress.
"I stopped and I looked over at her, and I’m like, 'Oh my gosh, you have to be kidding me,'" Knop told Bradenton Herald.
"We should not treat a girl like this because of where her fat cells decided to distribute genetically."
The school maintains it was simply upholding uniform standards, but the matter is now in front of the district Superintendent's Office for review.
"It is undisputed that this matter should have been handled differently at the school level and corrective measures have been taken to prevent a reoccurrence in the way these matters will be addressed in the future," the district's general counsel, Mitchell Teitelbaum, said in a statement.
The school has since blocked Martinez on Twitter.
Top Comments
She should wear a bra to school, problem solved.
Not necessarily, then they run the risk of their visible bra straps being distracting (shock, horror!). Better to teach the boys to grow up and mind their own business.
No, not "problem solved". Not only is it none of the school's business what underwear their students are wearing, nipples can poke through shirts while wearing a bra as well. I know from experience and was horribly embarrassed by it as a teenager, until I discovered t-shirt bras at some point in my early 20s.