Sports Illustrated 2004 swimsuit issue
Date: 2004
Region: North America
Subject: Explicit Sexuality
Medium: Photography
Artist: Sports Illustrated 2004 swimsuit issue
Confronting Bodies: Belpre Middle School officials
Date of Action: February 2004
Location: Belpre, Ohio, USA
Description of Artwork: Sports Illustrated's annual swimsuit issue features women in bathing suits in various poses and locations around the world.
The Incident: A sixth-grade student, Justin Reyes, had the magazine in his school gymnasium before classes started. The Principal, Kathy Garrison, reprimanded Reyes for "non-verbal harassment and possession of lewd or suggestive material." Superintendent, Tim Swarr, suggested that the swimsuit issue "doesn't belong in public schools."
Results of Incident: Reyes was ordered to spend two days at an alternative school where students from other local districts are sent when they are punished. Justin's mother, Nicole Reyes, opted for a three-day at home suspension, suggesting that the two-day alternative school sentence was too harsh.
Source: Media Coalition