A 17-Year-Old Girl Was Forced to Put Band-Aids on Her Nipples Underneath a Shirt at School

Kari Knop
Kari Knop

Here's how dress-code "problems" usually play out in schools: a female is wearing something that teachers deem "distracting," whether that's a denim skirt or a thin-strapped shirt. A few males make immature comments about the outfit in question, the female is called to the principal's office, and then she's forced to change. This order of events plays out over and over again, and a 17-year-old student named Lizzy Martinez (pictured above) can vouch for just how absurd it can be.

According to BuzzFeed News, Lizzy showed up to Braden River High School in Bradenton, FL, wearing jeans and a gray, long-sleeve Calvin Klein t-shirt. She wasn't wearing a bra underneath the baggy shirt, and a few hours into the school day, she was called to the dean's office and told to put Band-Aids over her nipples because she was "distracting" other students. Lizzy had to leave her fifth-period class, and after visiting the dean's office, she went to the nurse's office where she was given four Band-Aids — two for each breast — and was told to cover up her nipples in a criss-cross shape. The administrators told Lizzy "a boy was laughing at her" and thus, she needed to cover up.

The student even had to bounce her body around to show how much her breasts moved — a forced distraction, much? "They had me put on a second shirt and then stand up and, like, move and jump around to see how much my breasts moved," Lizzy told BuzzFeed. "I was mortified," she added. In "shock" over the embarrassing ordeal, Lizzy went to the bathroom and cried.

Lizzy's mother, Kari Knop, shared a photo of what her daughter was wearing and was quick to express her distaste for what happened. Kari fully supports her daughter's desire "to bring about change and to make the school system see the multitude of errors they made," the mom wrote on Facebook. Knowing that the story has gained attention nationwide, Kari continued, "This wasn't for 15 minutes of fame . . . it was to bring shame to our school system. It was to encourage change." The school reportedly has no mentions of bras or undergarments in its dress code.

It's stories like Lizzy's that shed light on the problematic double standard young women face growing up — instead of holding boys' level of respect to a higher standard, we tell girls to make the change. We cater to the boys' inability to keep their behavior in check rather than telling the girls they're doing nothing wrong. "It's very uncomfortable for people to talk about, but this is a big issue that a lot of girls feel targeted and sexualized," Lizzy noted. What if a boy were wearing a shirt that showed the outline of his nipple? It's unlikely he'd have been pulled from class and given Band-Aids.