There are likely many reasons why young people might send such an electronic message.  Most teens have experiemented sexually, and it’s possible that sexting is just another available venue to do so.  For some, it could be a way of getting attention, for others a method of seduction or anther way to say, “I love you.”  The answer could be as simple as “because they can,” and some have suggested it is partially due to the proliferation (and therefore normalization) of sexual and sexualized images on the internet.

While most teens and young adults who send these photos may see it as a harmless flirty note, the potential ramifications are far greater, because once it is sent, the photo is a permanent record that is now out of the hands of the sender. Approximately 40% of teens say it is common for nude or semi-nude photos to get shared with people other than the intended recipient. In Ohio in 2008 a middle school girl sent a nude photo of herself to a boy she liked and the photo subsequently circulated throughout the middle and high school. The girls was suspended and then was taunted so viciously by her peers that she ended up hanging herself. In yet another example of where the photos might go, there are pornographic websites online devoted solely to sexting photos that include pictures of teens.

In addition to the potential lack of privacy, pornographic use, and exposure to humiliation, one of the other issues related to sexting by teens is that of child-pornography laws. Last year, shortly after he turned 18, a boy in Florida sent a naked photo of his 16 year old girlfriend (that she had taken and sent to him) to her friends and family after an argument. The result: he was convicted of sending child pornography, sentenced to five years probation, and required by Florida law to register as a sex offender.  More recently, the ACLU was able to block prosecution of three girls in Pennsylvania who had made risque photos of themselves that showed up on classmates cellphones.

Read the rest on Psychology Today

But Moore says she refuses to do nude scenes “if the story doesn’t call for it.”

However, it appears she does a lot of films where the story does call for it.

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But that happened in Oak Meadows Elementary School in Riverside County, California, after some parents didn’t like the idea that the dictionary included definitions of dirty things like oral sex.

After “considerable discussion,” The Los Angeles Times reports that a committee of parents, teachers and administrators recently decided to return the dictionary to the fourth and fifth grade classrooms at the school.

Reports The Times:

“The dictionary will go back to the classroom but the parents will be given the option to determine if they want their kids to have access to that dictionary,” said Betti Cadmus, a spokeswoman for the Menifee Union School District in southwest Riverside County. Students will take permission slips home and parents who don’t want them to use Webster’s10th Collegiate Edition can opt for alternative dictionaries.

Related articles

• ‘Oral Sex’ Dictionary Controversy Resolved In California School (huffingtonpost.com)
• California school pulls ‘oral sex’ dictionary (go.theregister.com)
• California school district ends dictionary ban (seattletimes.nwsource.com)

Nathan Ryan McLain faces two felony counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct after a teenage student admitted a year-and-a-half long affair with the coach.

The 18-year-old girl had been a student of McLain for four years and was 16 when the affair started. Police found nude photos and a video of the girl on McLain’s cell phone and recovered sexually-explicit text messages.

The girl said the affair started with kissing and moved on to sex 18-months before she confessed the relationship to her father.

That question came up in an online chat with Washington Post columnist Carolyn Hax:

My 15-year-old daughter is thinking about having sex with her 17-year-old boyfriend (her first). She says she has only two friends who are still virgins, she and her boy are “in love,” and people shouldn’t look at girls who have sex as sluts. I think she is naive, emotionally unprepared for this step, wanting to not be the odd virgin out and has a bad case of “consequences won’t happen to me.

So what was Hax’s answer?

Agree with her that girls who have sex aren’t sluts — but this isn’t about reputation. Besides being true, that will also put you on the same side where she likely expects opposition. That gives more weight to anything else you say.

The Chicago Bliss quarterback is...er...sacked?

All right. Here’s the question. Do you watch the Super Bowl for the game, the commercials or the Lingerie Bowl?

Lingerie Bowl? Yep. Lingerie Bowl.

An alternative to the Super Bowl halftime show is The Lingerie Bowl, featuring the scantily-clad ladies of the Chicago Bliss vs the Los Angeles Temptations for the championship in the Lingerie Football League‘s inaugural season.

As you might expect, the LFL features scantily-clad young women playing football. They wear pads and helmets but not much else.

Kinda combines the two best parts of football: Action and cheerleader-gazing.

But it’s not free. The Lingerie Bowl is only available on pay-per-view.

Related articles

• The Lingerie Bowl Preview (sports.gunaxin.com)
• Debut of Lingerie Football League raises ire of some (nationalpost.com)
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But using a porn star? That’s the latest stunt pulled by the animal rights group.

Porn star Sasha Gray, dressed in nothing but a strategically placed sheet, is featured in a poster that reads: “Too Much Sex Can Be a Bad Thing: Have your cats and dogs spayed or neutered.”

Gray said she was a big fan of the animal rights group and wanted to support their neutering efforts.

“I think it’s something very simple that pet owners can do,” Ms. Gray says. “If you want to have a pet you need to take the time to look after that pet.”

Police charged Coach Lisa Guttilla, 37, with misdemeanor sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of child, an unidentified 14-year-old girl on her team.

Their affair came to light after the girl’s mother saw the hickey on her daughter’s neck and demanded the explanation. The girl confessed.

Full story

A 13-year-old Valparaiso girl and a 12-year-old Valparaiso boy were referred to juvenile probation on charges of possession of child pornography and child exploitation. In adult court, the charges would carry a maximum penalty of 11 years in prison, but prosecutors expect the case to be handled in the juvenile system.

“Something needs to be done, but we think dealing with them through the juvenile court system is appropriate, so as not to saddle them with (consequences) from the adult system,” Porter County Prosecutor Brian Gensel said.

In the adult system, convicted offenders face not only prison time but also having to register as a sex offender.

Read the full story

According to some published reports, GOP Senator-elect Scott Brown, who posed nude for Cosmo mag back when he modeled, says he just might do it again.

We’ve heard about politicians who promise “full disclosure” but this may be more than we want to know.