Parents who are comfortable with their teenager on social networking sites
Folks, I want to talk with parents - mothers or fathers - who feel basically comfortable with their teenager(s) being on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace, etc.  There are lots of parents who feel pretty passionately about watching over their teenagers in one way or another - by “friending” them, keeping their passwords, and just flat-out telling them they can’t be on these sites.  These are not the parents I hope to talk with.  If you are aware that your teenager is on these sites (or at least one of them), and you pretty much trust your teenager and do not intervene, I’d love to talk with you. Please e-mail me (

Teenagers in prison
While this is not a topic that is terribly related to adolescent sexuality, it is one that is receiving a lot of attention recently. One week ago the Supreme Court heard arguments on whether sentencing a juvenile - someone under 18 years old - to life in prison without the possibility of parole is cruel and unusual punishment.  In Roper vs. Simmons in 2005 the Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional to impose the death sentence for a crime committed when a person is under the age of 18. This

When girls wear tuxes and boys wear heels
The Western world has been divided into male/female for many years.  This division is slowly dissolving, and not surprisingly it is our young people who are pushing this crusade. There’s a recent article in the New York Times called Can a Boy Wear a Skirt to School? It’s not a terrible article, although it does make unfounded assumptions and statements and provides unchallen

The pain we cause
Gang rape, pulling a train, gang bang, serial sex.  These painful words that hurt, following or preceding or completely apart and separate from the acts they describe. And then that one word that looms so large: SLUT. And the smaller ones words that follow: she wanted it, she asked for it, dresses like a whore, I knew a girl once and she totally wanted it with all those guys in one night and I can prove it to you because her name is… And this one: If a prostitute is made to have sex, is that rape or is it shop lifting? I have heard all of these statements in my classes, and so I stand up in front of my students and read first person accounts from rape v

Negotiating about social media
Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, blogs, blogs, and more blogs - so much online space, so many questions! I am delighted to announce that I will be moderating a panel called Negotiating The Parent/Teen Divide Over Social Networking at SXSW Interactive 2010. I’m very excited about this panel as an opportunity for parents and teenagers to speak direct