Royal Navy Appoints Its First Female Commander
Lois Tarter: The One Person You Should NEVER Date After A Split
We're saddened by a story about a teen who hanged herself in her bedroom after an ex-boyfriend disseminated a nude cell-phone photo of her around their Ohio community. Jessica Logan, 18, was harassed daily by other girls calling her "slut" and "whore" and throwing objects at her.
Making It Through
She finished high school last year and went on national television with her face and voice distorted to warn other girls about the potential consequences of taking naked photos of themselves, a mistake Vanessa Hudgens later made.
But two months later, after attending a funeral for another teen who had committed suicide, Jessica went home and took her own life.
A Common Mistake
An oft-cited survey says that 39 percent of teens have sent similar photos of themselves ... and 15 percent of high-school boys say they disseminate the pics after a breakup.
The "Today" show had an "Internet security expert" on hand to warn of the dangers of "sexting" and urge parents to check their kids' cell phones. But isn't the real problem old-fashioned high-school cruelty?
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Hot Bod, Cold Heart
Alex Rodriguez This skanky Yankee came under fire for getting cozy with a stripper at a Las Vegas Scores (ew), and was rumored to be cavorting with Madonna before the ink was dry on either of their divorce papers. Jerkometer rating: 7
Getty Images
Mario Lopez Who knew that A.C. Slater was such a dirtbag? The buff "Dancing with the Stars" stud reportedly cheated on one lady friend with a Hooters girl, and his two-week 2004 marriage to Ali Landry ended when she learned of his bachelor party antics. Jerkometer rating: 8
Barry King, WireImage.com
Jude Law He may be gorgeous, and nobody can resist that accent. But you know what we can resist? Sleeping with our nanny. Jude? Not so much. He and then-fiancee Sienna Miller eventually broke up, obvs. Jerkometer rating: 7
Sony
Matt Damon In 1998, Matt Damon told Oprah Winfrey during an interview on her show that he was no longer dating Minnie Driver. According to Driver, that was the first she'd heard of their breakup. Jerkometer rating: 2 (He gets points off for good behavior since.)
Universal
Hugh Grant In 1995, Grant was infamously pulled over by L.A. police for lewd conduct with prostitute Divine Brown. Girlfriend Liz Hurley forgave him and even appeared on his arm at the premiere of "Nine Months" days after his arrest. Jerkometer rating: 9 (extra points for dragging Leno into it)
Dave Hogan, Getty Images
David Beckham What is it with married celebrities and the hired help? Although he has always denied it (and OK, so there's no proof), Becks was accused in 2004 of sleeping with then-personal assistant Rebecca Loos. Jerkometer rating: 3 (That shirtless picture inspires our goodwill, OK?)
Milk Processor's of America
Chace Crawford We know two things about the "Gossip Girl" boy: He's a total hottie, and he dumped Carrie Underwood via text. US Weekly reported in April, 2008 that the pair "mutually" parted ways via cellular phones. Jerkometer rating: 1 (hey, we've done it too)
Mark Von Holden, WireImage.com
Charlie Sheen Among other lowlights, Sheen "accidentally" shot ex-fiancee Kelly Preston, spent thousands on madam Heidi Fleiss and symbolically took a chainsaw to his wedding portrait with Denise Richards. Ew. Jerkometer rating: What comes after infinity?
E.J. Camp / CBS
Ethan Hawke We were sad enough when this brainy babe's artsy-smartsy marriage to Uma Thurman ended. But to then shack up and have a baby with the nanny to his kids? For shame! Jerkometer rating: 4
Mirimax / Everett Collection
Ryan Philippe Although never officially confirmed, rumors still swirl that Ryan Philippe's divorce from his all-American wife Reese Witherspoon had a little something to do with an on-set affair with actress Abbie Cornish, now his girlfriend. Hmm. Jerkometer rating: 6
Frank Masi, Paramount
"Sexting" and online bullying may be relatively new, but girls tormenting other girls over their alleged promiscuity has been around forever.
We're glad to hear from the security expert that schools are finally being held liable for bullying (including some cyber-bullying), but we're not sure if that will be enough to keep kids from tormenting each other.
"Mean Girls" has a touching ending, but what can school officials and parents do to help real-life teens make peace? Should we blame technology ... or ourselves?
Tell us! What should parents or administrators do to teach kids about the dangers of sexting? Is it just another rite of passage?
The Most Annoying Co-Workers
Insistent Instant Messenger: No matter how much time or miscommunication could be spared by talking face-to-face, this person insists on talking virtually, via IM or email. If they're a superior and you're not online, they send you an email to ask where you are (meanwhile you're at your desk, ten feet away).
Cycle Sister: This is a person you're not particularly fond of, but for whatever cosmically twisted reason, your daily routine is synched up -- you walk into work at the same time, and from there, you see your Cycle Sister in the bathroom, on your smoke break, at the vending machine, and on the way out. Even if you do like this person alright, the sheer coincidence makes things creepy and awkward.
Mr. Flibble, Flickr
The Get-a-Lifer: This person asks you out to post-work drinks on a regular basis, despite the fact that you always decline. And the one time you went to a party at their house, it ended up being the two of you playing Taboo. The Get-a-Lifer is often the same person who plans meetings at 6 p.m. on Fridays, not realizing that everyone else goes out with their friends on the weekend.
bealluc, Flickr
Listserv Leech: If someone has taken this person's lunch out of the fridge, the entire staff will be notified via the staff listserv, which everyone else uses exclusively for professional communication. Alternately, this person may use the listserv to let everyone know about the lack of toilet paper in the bathroom, a party they're throwing, or to ask who took that package off their desk.
Angry Typist: The Angry Typist pounds on her keyboard with the vigor of someone hitting their ex-boyfriend. The violent clacking leads to many misunderstandings, as this person is often unaware of their problem and is not actually pissed.
.faramarz, Flickr
The Toilet Mouth: You're on the pot midstream (or worse) when the Toilet Mouth strikes up a conversation. This person also likes to chatter at the sink for before and after they go, giving no one in the bathroom privacy to do their business.
Megan *, Flickr
Monday Manic: The coffee hasn't hit your bloodstream yet, and the Monday Manic is flittering about, imbued with an unnatural amount of energy and optimism. They're telling stories about how freaking great their weekend was and so stoked about the work they get to do that day.
Old News Hound: OMG, did you hear that Lindsay Lohan is dating a girl!? The Old News Hound is always the last to know about everything, but the first to belt out at a stale headline at full-volume to their surrounding coworkers.
Rash Revealer:This person has no shame getting on the phone with their doctor, their spouse, their aunt, or their mom to discuss a rash, a yeast infection, and any other personal bodily defect or medical issue.
maydaFUNKbewithu!, Flickr
The Chit-Chat Blaster: If this person catches you in the break room or on your way out of the bathroom, you're done for a half an hour later they're still yammering away about the paint samples they're considering for the livingroom, the deli they ate at for lunch, the meeting the boss called earlier, the diet they're on. The Chit-Chat Blaster also doesn't notice you inching away, and generally lack the ability to pick up social cues.
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Tuesday 10 March
By SeriouslyNow
I think it is crazy that some of you parents out there are blaming the child or the cell phone.
Just a heads up... WE DONT LIVE IN THE SAME WAY THAT YOU WERE BROUGHT UP IN!!!
Most of you could walk down your street in the middle of the night and be OKAY, most of you had a cookie cutter family. Lived in cute little developments and the only horrible thing on the news was that the milk at the grocery down the street was bad!
We are not that lucky! Every where we go we need to be extra guarded. So dont find it amazin that you all survived!
Damn my parents when they were my age didnt have to lock their front door. Now i have to lock my door when i'm stopped at a red light! So dont say that kids do not need cell phones because one day and i pray this doesnt happen but one day something bad happens toeither you or them and theres no way to let anyone know.
Point being here stop blaming the cell phones and technology we live a different life and just like you and everyone before us we will adapt to it.
Young girls just need to be smarter and hell right now there arent alot of great roll models. You got hannah montana a bi-polor/Multi personality freak and Rhinna letting her dude beat her up.. what does that show to the young women of the nation. Nothing... nothing good atleast.
They will get it one day they will stop being mean/bullying they will.. because one day someone will do it tothem and they'll realize it isnt fair.
And to all the girls that are now crying over this poor girl that killed herself... take a look in the mirror because this is not a joke! Things like this can happen every where. Watch what you say to someone because who knows if its the last thing that person will ever hear.
Love your body heart and soul and above all of that love each other.
Tuesday 10 March
By Jan
We all know that cell phones are not to blame here. If we think about it the idiot of a boy friend comes to mind. What cause just did he have to post the pictures of the girl. He should be fully responsible for the girl killing her self. Kids, not to mention adults, have to respect for others in today's times. Those girls had to right going around calling her a slut. How heartless is that. Ok world of today it is about time you started caring about others, showing some respect to human beings and showing god that we can care and respect his children.
Tuesday 10 March
By Mariyah
I think that might be a lttile extreme, but you just need to instill good sense in them on how to use them properly. That's just like saying every teenage girl is a whore, which is obviously not true.
Tuesday 10 March
By raven
my child does have a cell phone.my child was bullied in 4th grade by the that didnt have the cell phone.so it doesnt matter who has the cell phones.we has parents need to step up for our children and make the schools get more involved too.
Tuesday 10 March
By KC
That's great that you don't allow your kids to have a cell phone, but remember other kids do! They don't have to have one for their picture to be taken. So please dont assume that makes them exempt from these behaviors. Open communication and being involved in our childrens lives is the key to helping them make smart decisions in life
Tuesday 10 March
By Sparky
She was freaking 18, this had more to do with people being cruel rather than a phone. This is the problem with society, always looking for something to blame rather than taking responsibility for their own actions. Unless those pictures were of her and a farm animal or three other guys, she had nothing to be embarrassed about.
Tuesday 10 March
By bsfilter
You're glad that schools are liable? That's absurd. How can it possibly be the fault of the schools that teen girls are b1tches? It's the fault of the teen girls themselves and possibly of their parents. We're talking, here, of minors, are we not? If parents can't raise their daughters to be decent people, we should close all the public schools and let the irresponsible parents educate their own useless brats.
Tuesday 10 March
By Lori
In this day & age advanced technology is part of our everyday lives. It is like anything else we indulge in----how we are going to use it depends on its necessity. Parents get their children cell phones for what reason? Mostly, so they know where they are & what they are doing. Correct? Cell phones should be, in my opinion, treated as any other priviledge is---if it is abused--take it away. Too many parents don't enforce boundaries for their young children. Believe it or not, these children will survive to the next day if they don't have a cell phone!!!! We, as adults & parents, are their role models. Setting firm limits on abused behavior, sends a message early to young minds that consequences are a necessary part of growth. If your employer caught you abusing the internet at work, you would be disciplined. It is no different for these children. Unfortunately, our educators have become surrogate parents. Although, I feel the school let this family down, the young adults involved & the other young adults who watched this behavior happen are just as guilty. A young life is lost & several others will never be the same. I have seen children as young as 7 or 8 have cell phones. For what reason? What happened to coloring books, crayons & board games. There is not a school, store, gas station, church or other business you can think of, that does not have a landline for these young adults to use if they have to. If you think that your child owning a cell phone makes you feel better knowing where they are---you are sending them the wrong message. Acxcountability is the answer. If they become responsible in there actions, they won't need a cell phone. There are instances where I know children have to have a cell phone, but monitoring that device is just as important as letting your child get behind a wheel of a car when they are of age to drive. If they can't abide by simple monitoring of a cell phone, they won't do it when they drive. If they get away with infractions now, traffic violations will mean nothing---it could also take a very young life---and it does everyday!!!!! You can't tell parents what they can & can not get for their own child. I feel parents need to realize the components of a cell phone. If they want to know where their child is, then just keep the phone for incoming & outgoing phone messages & block everything else.---Of course, the cell phone companies wouldn't be very happy---that's another comment. Each year cell phones become more sophisticated. You wouldn't give a child adult medicine, why would you give a child a piece of technology that if improperly used could injured themselves or someone else--because it did in this case. I hope parents group together to become advocates of this current technology & its abuse. We are the only ones who can protect & teach our children the ways of the world. We eventually need to let our children make their own decisions, but not at the expense of someone else's life. This "sexting" is only a small example of what young adults can do if not minitored properly---for this young girl & her family, it was the ultimate sacrifice. My prayers will be with you
Tuesday 10 March
By drastichange
This is tragic! This should of never happend! The problem isnt cell phones,the problem is the media. The FCC not being allowed to do there job because people arguing its an adults choice to watch mild nudity,and sexual activity on daytime primetime tv. There is no morality left! I feel the blame is on all those who fight against those who are trying to protect children and society as a whole. The FCC Morality in media, AFA ,Obcenitycrimes.org and trust me there are more.
This beautiful young girl lost her LIFE! Please DONT let it be in vien.
Tuesday 10 March
By mike
your kids probably have very few friends and are in the unpopular clique. because you shelter them so much they probably are lonely and when it comes time for the real world, they will be lacking in social skills. are you positive the real reason that they do not have cell phones isnt you are to cheap, i just can imagine the conversations your kid has with people at school. "why dont you have a cell phone?" "my parents are afraid it'll make me hang myself." relax. let your kid have a phone
Tuesday 10 March
By Lindsey
this girl died and your trying to point the finger and say your a better parent? What are you trying to prove. Noone cares if your children have cell phones or not, this is about a young girls life. I really don't know how you could post that. Im furious right now if i was that girls mother I cant even imagine how she feels. I dont know how you sleep at night
Tuesday 10 March
By Trevor
I was in high school eight years ago and cell phones were taken away and not allowed during school hours. I wonder where the school system began allowing kids to have cell phones in schools. Unfortunately, it's the world we live in and it's going to get worse before we have an uprising of responsible adults that actually tell their kids No.
Tuesday 10 March
By Abadeizer
People don't discriminate people who watch porn anymore because now everybody KNOWS that everyone else knows they watch porn.
And THAT'S the key. Once girls stop being insecure and ashamed of their sexuality, they will stop bullying each other.
But in the mean time everyone needs to stop over-reacting way too much.
First of all both girls aren't kids. 18 year olds aren't kids dear parents.
Second of all, this is just ONE of the ways girls can torture each other... There are way more reasons that girls torture themselves to death in high school. And if your daughter is like "everyone else" she may well be one of those culprits.
The writer intentionally put this technology issue in perspective with social behavior of high school girls, thankfully.
Parents can't just disrupt their kids' social lives because they're afraid they'll send naked pictures of themselves.
What parents need to do is just get involved in their daughters' lives, without unnecessary disruptions.
How do you think the rest of the world deals with this problem? (sexting isn't just in US)
They don't go back to the stone age, they talk.
Saturday 14 March
By Jessica
No this has nothing to do why kids dont have cell phones, it has everything to do with self respect, good parenting (not blaming tv, friends or phones) and common sense! Stop blaming other people or other things for something that would have never happened if people would have common sense and the brain cells to decide right from wrong! that is what is wrong with many people these days!!!
Tuesday 10 March
By MisterBubble75
So you'd isolate your kids from the technology? Hm, that's interesting. I don't know, there was a story about an author when he was young. His father told him that he could look at any of the books on this book shelf that he had except for the ones on top of the book case. You can guess what books the young author went for first (the books on top if you haven't figured it out). The technology is public property to be sure and some kids/teens/etc. may not know this. I have a cell phone best used for emergencies or in case I'll be late and there's not a phone in the building. But I think that the problem is that people or "teens", if you'd like to call them that, feel that the internet is this floating world separate from the real, physical world, so they feel they can hurt people, or do things on the internet that they might not openly do in real life, such as posting nude pics(or sending them) and/or bullying others. In either case, the things people say can hurt the emotional part of a person or touch it in a way that peopl may not necessarily like. But I think that may be what the problem is. That's just my opinion.
Tuesday 10 March
By hoodwinkedxo
Prohibiting your child from getting a cell phone isn't the solution to this problem. You have to TRUST that you've raised them right (if you did) and allow them to make their own decisions. God bless Jesse's mom, and I hope Jesse's ex faces his carma and guilt, but just because this one heartbreaking incident occurred, doesn't mean you should ban cell phones altogether. It's not the cell phones, it's the people who use them.
Tuesday 10 March
By tocool
but i agree with you, children shouldn't own a cell phone, good parenting for not allowing yours, kudos
Tuesday 10 March
By Rosemary
How incredibly sad. Teenagers can be so cruel to one another. I wonder how her ex-boyfriend feels now. How are all of the girls that called her vulgar names feeling at this moment. My daughter was a victim of bullying by a group of girls at school. These kids just don't understand the impact they are making on the victims emotional state. It took many phone calls to parents, threats to the girls themselves, and finally a meeting with our local police department with all of the girls themselves to stop the harrassment. We had to change phone numbers, home and cell, change screennames. Myspace had to be contacted over some very horrible things posted about my daughter on their web site. They took down the site after numerous complaints from us. After all of that about six months later, a couple of the girls wanted to become friends again and hang out. We did not allow this. My daughter had no desire whatsoever to have these girls as friends again.
Tuesday 10 March
By Jackie Miller
I think that if your kids don't have a cell phone, it's probably the smartest choice you will every make because, one the "sexting" thing, very true...in my high school there are so many girls that talk about how they've had sex with a guy or have sent a guy a nude picture...in my town last year, there was a girl from a local school who took a nude picture sent it to her boyfriend, and that boyfriend sent it on to some of his other friends, possibly posted it online, it got through 3-4 states in a matter of 48 hours...this is why students should not have cell phones in school, this is why parents should be monitoring what their child does online, yes I'm only 16 years old, but I know better not to send stuff like that, this is how it snowballs, a girl takes a picture of her chest or her whole, body, sends it to a few people then there ya go, it hits a lot of people in a state with just a few texts messages or emails, same thing on the internet, girls talk to a guy or few online, they say hey wanna trade "pics" then if the girl falls for that trick, then they exchange cell phone numbers, send each other pics, they never talk again and the next thing you know, its online and in how many cities, counties, states. It's a terrible thing that this young lady only 18 years old made one of the most terrible choices a girl could make, go to a funeral of a girl who has committed suicide, and go home 2-3 hours later and commit suicide because she's stuck in a situation that she can never take back...it's very saddening...yes i have a cell phone..but if i don't know a number or don't get to know somebody really well before I give them my number, I don't give that person my number, and if I don't recognize a number, I say who's this and if they don't respond that number gets blocked. The best phone to get your child though would be a trackfone...you only get so many minutes, there are no cameras on those phones, and everytime they text, it wastes minutes...so when they run out of minutes, you can either buy the minutes or make them earn it themselves.
Tuesday 10 March
By ChrissyM
No matter if your kids have cell phones or NOT... This is absolutely tragic.
Teens cannot predict the long term consequences of anything... that part of their brain is just not developed.
TRULY tragic; she was just trying to take a stand- and attempt to prevent others from making the mistake she had.
She is now a true angel. May she rest in peace.