Birthday Boy's Present: Woman in Birthday Suit

Mom and dad hire a stripper for son's sixteenth birthday party. Great parenting? Not exactly. But a crime? The kid is a year away from being able to enlist. So he's almost old enough to get blown to bits for his country, but not old enough to handle deal with a pair of tits. On the other hand, he is apparently old enough to see both his parents carted off to prison, for his own protection. Confused yet?

A mother faces criminal charges after she hired a stripper to dance at her 16-year-old son's birthday party. Anette Pharris, 34, has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and involving a minor in obscene acts. The boy's father, the stripper and two others also face charges. "I tried to do something special for my son," Pharris said. "It didn't harm him."

Comments

[Adriane]

So, we should let Saddam Hussein continue to gas Kurds because his children would suffer seeing him get hauled off to jail.

Over the top comparison, yes I know. But what is the stopping threshold?

Child welfare advocates point out that children hospitalized by their parent's brutality often scream and cry for the very parents that did this to them - because that is what scared and lonely children do. And yet frequently the law intervenes by separating parent and child, least the parent inflict further damage.

But I think your assumption "So he's almost old enough to get blown to bits for his country, but not old enough to deal with a pair of tits" is just that, an assumption on your part.

Many teenagers do not have the maturity to handle sexual impulses and over stimulation in the same manner that an adult would.

Is psychological abuse to children somehow less damaging because there are no bruises?

Since I do not know the boy in question you can challenge as to whether or not this falls in the category of psychological abuse; but since you don't know the boy in question, I can return the challenge.

What if the boy was rather quiet and shy and the parents wanted him "to be man" equating lecherous behavior with masculinity? Would it be OK if the boy was gay and the parents want to shame him into responding to women as erotic rather than men?

Possibly, as you mentioned, not a crime but only "not great parenting". But for some reason, I can not give the incident the sarcastic dismissal that you appear to.

[Melissa]

That kid has some pretty cool parents. People need to lighten up more.

[Phil]

Wait, wait, wait.

Did someone just compare seeing a pair of naked breasts to gassing innocent people to death?

Jesus tapdancing christ.

There is absolutely no evidance of any 'abuse' of this boy, other than the strangely legislated and enforced sexual mores of the locality in question. This is an article that provides VERY little information, and you've gone off simply guessing and what-iffing a whole host of scenarios that aren't even implied in the slightest.

His parents (who know the child pretty well, I'd imagine. at the last better than any of us do.) thought he was mature enough to handle this, but the cops think they know better. That's the story. That's all.

[Brad Hull]

It does serve this country pretty well to be so frickin' hung up on trivial matters of sexual content that we can't pay attention to anything serious politically when it comes up. Makes great protective cover.

Our previous prez lied about getting a blow job, and gets impeached.

Our current president lied to get us into a war we can't get out of, and nobody but Ralph Nader is talking about impeachment.

What the hell is wrong with our sense of proportion? Is there a 15-year-old in charge of our priorities? It sure seems like it.

And who in the previous responses wants to say that adults handle sexual drives and temptations better than 15-year-olds? I think they've just polished their plays, in most cases...