Last week, a Florida high school student who went to school without wearing a bra says she was pulled out of class and asked to put band-aids over her âprotrudingâ nipples by the schoolâs dean.
A teacher at Braden River High School complained about Lizzy Martinez, 17, being a âdistractionâ to other students in the class because she was braless. The teen claims she was wearing a loose long-sleeved green shirt; it was not see through.
Martinez was subsequently sent to the school dean Violeta Velazquezâs office, where she was told of the complaint and asked to put on a tighter t-shirt under her long-sleeved shirt. The girl complied, but was then asked to head down to the schoolâs clinic where she was met by the school nurse and the dean and asked to cover her nipples with four band-aids.
âShe told me that I needed to put a shirt on under my long-sleeve shirt to try to tighten my breasts â to constrict them,â Martinez explained to the Bradenton Herald in a Thursday interview. âAnd then she asked me to move around.â
According to the publication, Martinez felt âhumiliatedâ over the incident.
âThe students that were laughing or snickering or talking about me, that should have been addressed, not me, because I wasnât the issue there,â she said.
On Twitter, the teen posted, âI decided not to wear a bra today and got pulled out of class bc one of my teachers complained that it was a âdistraction to boys in my class,'â she wrote. âMy school basically told me that boysâ education is far more important than mine and I should be ashamed of my body.â
She also complained that the school was âsexualizingâ her and showcased a screenshot of the schoolâs Twitter account blocking her in retaliation.
The school issued a statement in response to the incident, on Thursday.
âThis matter was brought to the attention of the Superintendentâs Office for review,â said Mitchell Teitelbaum, the districtâs general counsel. âIt 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.â
According to the districtâs Code of Student Conduct, students are âexpected to dress appropriately for school and for the business of learning with proper attention given to personal cleanliness, grooming and neatness.â
âIf it was a male dean that asked my daughter to do this, we wouldnât even be on the phone trying to justify it, therefore we should not be doing it as female deans,â said Kari Knop, the teenâs mother.
âWe should not treat a girl like this because of where her fat cells decided to distribute genetically,â Knop added.
Knop reportedly emailed Superintendent Diana Greene later in the week, according to the Bradenton Herald. âThough Greene at first sympathized with Martinez, her mother said, she later said the girlâs âprotrudingâ nipples may have distracted other students â a violation of the districtâs dress code,â says the report.