Idiot Cheerleaders and their Idiot Coaches, also Indiana Wants Me.

Well here I am, AGAIN, in the state of Indiana where tonight's temparature is somewhere in the 30s. Being a native of Florida, I find my blood literally running cold as I made my way back to my vehicle.
But really, I kinda enjoy these trips thru Indiana. During one stop in Indianapolis, my wife and I joined in at a Damon’s where they were having karaoke night. The people doing the show were very nice and helped out quite a bit during my wife's turn at the mike. She did a killer rendition of Meri Wilson's "Telephone Man" while looking at yours truly here. (Go google “Telephone Man” and hear the soundtrack).
Speaking of music, the title of this post is a reference to R. Dean Taylor's 1970 hit song, "Indiana Wants Me". I hear it every now and then on Sirius 70s Channel.

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Anyone who isn't a hermit has heard of those two dopey girls in Ohio who decided to photograph themselves topless. The rub here is that one girl was only 15 and the other rub is that the other girl, age 19 (Victoria Schattauer) was her cheerleading coach. Here's a link to the Fox News article:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,307950,00.html

Now I've read the news articles and seen the picture (censored version). Apparently they were at a party (always at a party) held by the school's football coach. The 15 year old got an idiot notion to photograph herself topless and send it to her boyfriend. Her 19 year old coach (now how did a 19 year old get to be a coach at her age?) showing true leadership (sarcasm) decided to join in saying something like "let's give him a show".
Next of course they made the real smart move (biting sarcasm) of sending it to the 15 year old’s boyfriend. And like a true gentleman who knows how to treat his lady right (extreme biting sarcasm) , the idiot boyfriend sends it to all his friends in some sort of male braggadocio moment.

I digress here for a moment to harken back to my teen years. No I never had any girlfriends give me any topless Polaroids (in the days before digital photography) but had one done so, I would have immediately, if nothing else, kept the photo in a safe place and probably end up giving it back to her after the inevitable breakup (as most teen romances end up). I certainly would not have been showing it off to friends. Back to the topic.

This incident harkens back to the recent Vanessa Hudgens incident (Google that if you want more info) where the renowned 18 year old actress photographed herself nude as a gift for her boyfriend. To their credit, her employer, Disney cut her a break and didn’t cancel her role on “High School Musical”. I strongly believe in second chances. But the scandal is still there and a lot of parents now have to explain to their kids something they probably aren’t really ready for. Now back to Miss Schattauer.

Well if anything, Miss Schattauer has really put herself behind the 8 ball if she was planning a future career as a coach/teacher. Assuming she gets thru college (with her clothes on), what school district would want to hire her, even with her looks?

OK so there might be places like Boulder, Colorado (where the school administration is now encouraging sexual behavior on the part of their students) or Portland, Maine (where they want to give birth control to 11 year old girls). Or maybe she’ll land a spread in Playboy. But those are the wacko exceptions. Chances are, Victoria has closed herself off from a lot of potential future opportunities as a coach, even if the law goes easy on her (which is quite likely). She now has quite a mountain to climb in front of her, all of her own making.

As for the 15 year old, she’ll face some sort of disciplinary action though exactly what hasn’t been made public. I imagine her parents (assuming she’s living with at least one of them) are probably livid. But I don’t know and don’t want to speculate but she’ll have quite a bit of “damage control” to do as well. Luckily for her, the record will be expunged when she turns 21, I think.

Freedom Of Expression
This particular incident brings to mind issues about freedom of expression. Doubtless, some web sites have posted the full, uncensored picture of the two girls, possibly risking charges of child pornography (because of the 15 year old). Most current federal and state laws specify that in order for a image to be considered pornographic (child or otherwise), it must be depicting sexual activity. The picture in the news doesn’t quite fit that category as the girls are not depicted engaged in any sexual activity (but it can be said that they are engaged in some real stupid goings-on). Now that's a overally generalization. Doubtless that some states or municipalities would want to prosecute any web site showing the uncensored photo as child porno.

Personally, I think that our law enforcement has better things to be working on than trying to pursue some idiots who insist on posting the full picture, citing their right to free speech. You, me or whoever do NOT have to go to their web sites, and you’d probably wouldn’t know where they are unless you do a web search. There are other sites that law enforcement needs to be concerned about, like terrorist sites and real child porno sites to prosecute.
I’d prefer to err on the side of freedom in this case.

And that's all for now. I'm stuck up here in chilly Indiana longing for the warmth of my Florida home and my lovely wife, which is where I should be in a few days. The stupid truck decided to malfunction, sticking me here for awhile. But at least I get to catch up on my new photo biz web site work.

God's Blessings to all who read this.