----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, October 16, 2003 12:09
PM
Subject: [Sndbox] Bracelet Fad Among
Middle-Schoolers Said Linked to Sex
Bracelet Fad Among Middle-Schoolers Said Linked to Sex
By STEVEN RAY HABERLIN
New
York Times Regional Newspapers
OCALA -- Raymond Andrews had no
idea that the bracelets his sixth-grade daughter purchased this summer were
related to sex.
However, after speaking to other parents, he learned
this new fad among middle school students was something he didn't want his
kids involved with. His daughter promised to do away with the bracelets, but
not before asking some pretty uncomfortable questions.
"That gets me
concerned," said Andrews, whose children attend Belleview Middle School. "If
they need to ban these jelly bracelets, they need to ban them."
A new
trend, which has some parents and school officials concerned and may very well
shock others, has surfaced in Marion County. The newest twist on Truth or
Dare, the game involves wearing colored rubber bracelets, which have various
meanings, some sexual.
Students break the bracelets off one another and
then are supposedly entitled to specific acts, some as innocent as a hug,
others sexually explicit.
The trend, which seems to exist strictly
among middle school students, is a bigger problem on some campuses than
others. One school banned the bracelets last month after discovering their
meaning.
Plastic bracelets became the rage among teens in the 1980s
with pop stars such as Madonna sporting them on their arms and ankles. In
recent years, the fashion has made a comeback among young
people.
Students say the bracelets, and their hidden meanings, became
popular during the last school year. Inside classrooms and hallways, students
-- boys and girls -- would grab at each other's bracelets, hoping to snap one
off.
Though there is talk of Web sites providing codes, the various
meanings behind the bracelets apparently are devised by students and have no
consistency. However, some of the meanings may come as a surprise to parents.
One e-mail from a teacher concerning the sixth-grade code stated that a red
bracelet stands for a "lap dance" while a blue one symbolized oral
sex.
"Last year, it was like a big thing for some kids," said Melissa
Radley, a sixth-grader at Fort McCoy School, who no longer wears the
bracelets. "I just like the fashion stuff. I said, `I'm not doing that. It's
stupid.' "
The inexpensive bracelets are a top-seller at Claire's, said
an employee at the Paddock Mall store, which began carrying the item this
spring.
Reports of the bracelets causing controversy have surfaced in
Central Florida as well as South Florida.
Officials as well as students
say the bracelets are mainly a childish game, where the related acts are
seldom, or ever, carried out.
But sex, researchers say, is on the minds
of more and more middle school students. A recent study shows that one out of
five have had sexual intercourse by age 15. One out of seven get pregnant by
the same age.
Steven Ray Haberlin writes for the Star-Banner in
Ocala.
Charles
Mims
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