Nose Job

Bountiful Jr. High School suspended Suzannah Pabla, who is of mixed Indian heritage, for wearing a jeweled stud in violation of its policy prohibiting body piercing, except ear lobes. She is permitted to wear a clear plastic stud instead.

Utah schools have made religious accommodations in the past, including allowing Sikh students to wear a kirpan sewed into their clothes, despite a strict ban on weapons. Bountiful officials said the nose piercing might be permissible if it were done in religious observance, but they “determined piercing is more of a cultural practice, not a religious tenant.”