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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us March 6, 2006 A story with a sad twist, but a worse ending A teenager who pinched and twisted his buddy’s nipple while they were standing in line at a deli last summer is still paying the price for his “criminal” behavior today. After paying a $67 fine and serving three days of community service where he mowed lawns, emptied trash cans and shoveled gravel, the 16-year-old was ordered to write a letter explaining his actions. He did. But it wasn’t good enough for the agency authorized to rehabilitate the youngster. That’s when a line in the sand was drawn. The teen said he refused to comply with the authority ordering him to explain his “criminal thought processes.” He argued that his actions were spontaneous and neither premeditated nor felonious. He explained in an interview on talk radio that if he were to concoct the criminal mindset story he felt he was being compelled to create, it would contradict the testimony he gave to the judge. The letter enforcers weren’t convinced. They tacked on four days in juvenile jail to an already heavy-handed sentence. Let’s face it. There are kids out there caught in possession of drugs, drinking alcohol, and driving recklessly that have met with lesser consequences. This kid twisted a nipple, an act among teen boys so common, it has its own nickname. While we certainly do not condone indiscriminate nipple-twisting ad nauseam, when society begins to criminalize minor horseplay we must draw a line in the sand as well and stand in defense of youthful pranksters in our community whose mischievous antics may warrant adequate discipline and correction, but do not rise to the level of criminal mischief. American society is replete with “rights of passage” rituals that millions of young boys engage in, either through organized groups (scouts, fraternities, military, etc.) or unofficial routines that just catch on in a variety of forms. Nuggies, nipple-twisting, slug-bugs, wedgies and the like will all constitute criminal acts in a catch-all society that fails to distinguish between goofy juvenile behavior and the serious first steps toward becoming a menace to society. We find the nipple-twisting teen guilty of the offense of acting silly. We further find him in compliance with all he was required to do, including writing a letter. He paid quite a debt. It is likely the teen has learned a valuable lesson. So have we. Perhaps we should now pen a correspondence examining why we, as adults, continue to engage in playing pranks on one another, and creating films and television programs that produce a measure of mirth derived from the mishaps of misfits, while failing to recognize the criminal mind at work within us all that filters down to the youth in our society. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams