Boys may have to register as sex offenders for rear-slapping...

Two 13-year old Oregonians, Cory Mashburn and Ryan Cornelison, were arrested in February, due to their slapping girls' bottoms in the halls at school. The felony charges have since been dropped, but the possibility looms that these two young men may have to register as sex offenders for life.

The boys claimed that the rear-end slapping went on all throughout the school and was just a way to say, "hello."

Now, I personally have never been a fan of the bottom slapping. I've never engaged in it and don't feel we should be teaching our kids that it's okay and is just a way of saying "hello" by touching another's bottom. However, I also don't believe these two 13-year olds should have to register as sex offenders for life for this. An after-school detention, a week's worth of after-school detentions, along with a meeting between the boys, their parents, and the principal would suffice. But, based on their slapping the covered rear-ends of females in the hall, I don't believe they should have to knock on neighbors' doors, and tell their story about how they're registered sex offenders. They may have been dared. Perhaps the gals slapped the guys' butts the day before and the guys were just getting them back. Perhaps it is very common at the school. What should be done is a lecture on sexual invasiveness and how the bottom slapping is, according to some, an invasion of privacy. However, I can't see this working too efficiently, because if one spectates sporting events at all, what will they see? Butt slaps, plenty of them. Catch a pass for a first down? Expect some butt slaps. Tackle a guy short of a first down, again, some butt slaps.

There are other ways to demonstrate congratulations or to say hello to another. There's always the high five, the wink, the head nod, actually speaking and saying words such as, "Hey there", etc. If schools truly have a problem with this, perhaps they should begin giving students a mandatory course on such matters. Because, to many 13-year olds, it may be nothing more or less than a welcoming gesture. Nowhere in the article did it speak of how the girls felt in the situation, so we, as observers (readers), are left to speculate. Should these boys be punished and lectured in some way? Yes, I think so. But, do I feel that they should be registered sex offenders? There's no way I believe that to be the case. I doubt that will occur, but you never know. I have a feeling it'd create quite the uproar if it did.