In a recent email sent out to parents, Mike Medina, the principal of Angevine Middle School in Colorado requested that students (mainly female) should no longer wear colored jelly bracelets. His fear is that different colors symbolize the different types of sexual activity the girl has done or is willing to do in the future, and boys will take advantage of this. According to a few websites, and Law & Order episodes, boys snap off the color of their desired activity, and then the girl essentially agrees to go along with the request. Gross, wrong, sexist, icky, still gross... there are a lot of words going through my mind when I think about this situation, and while I may have an emotional reaction, I still need to think this one through. I am really conflicted about the decision to ban the bracelets. As a former middle school teacher I know that students are easily distracted by rumors and gossip about a girl’s sexuality. It can make the classroom feel unsafe for students, and it takes away from learning. Teachers are overworked as it is, adding one more rule may help school culture progress a little smoother. On the other hand I find it very frustrating that this is another example of adults limiting young female self expression without addressing male behavior in the situation. Does the ban do anything to address building self esteem among girls, promoting equity in girl and boy relationships, or even providing comprehensive sex education? Nope, this ban just forces girls to change their behavior, so they will not tempt boys. Yet again, females must determine how males feel and act, and how far to go, since males cannot be trusted to act appropriately. Not only does this decision lock girls into a demeaning role of the sex restrainer, it also maintains negative stereotypes about males, and in doing so it assumes that males are hormone driven maniacs that simply will not be able to resist from snapping off a bracelet from a willing girl. If the principal truly believes that by limiting jelly bracelets he will prevent sexual activity, then he is wrong. Bracelets, low cut shirts, high cut skirts- female fashion is not what drives sex in youth--it is youth themselves. This case reminds me that many adults are really freaked out by the idea of youth sexuality, to the point where they are no longer logical or fair. They jump to conclusions and worry that everything they see about kids in the media is true. They are willing to do anything to protect kids from sex- except talk to them. We know that less than 50% of students in high school have sex, we know that a lot of myths about kids and sex are out there, but often they are just myths. And so when I think about the idea of making school wide decisions from an emotional space rather than thinking it through, I believe it can do more damage than good, and further divide adult from kid. Students at Angevine Middle School plan to wear as many bracelets as possible, to protest their anger at the decision and the principal , and a great opportunity to talk openly and honestly about teen sexuality will be lost.