South Shore teens facing charges for bus sex act
by Jules Crittenden and Laurel J. Sweet THE BOSTON HERALD

Two South Shore teens are facing juvenile sex charges and school discipline after they allegedly engaged in sex on a Silver Lake Regional School District bus on the way to school before Christmas.

School officials said the 15-year-old girl and the 16-year-old boy engaged in a sex act in the back of a bus, as other students looked on and reportedly cheered, as the bus drove the combined group of junior high and high school kids to school on the morning of Dec. 12.

Silver Lake High Principal Richard Kelley said, ``Some of the students reported it to middle school authorities. We investigated it, and realized that this was a matter for the police.

``Recognizing that we had minors involved and sexual activity occurred, there is no such thing as consensual sex for minors and a school bus was involved, we thought this was a matter for the police,'' Kelley said.

He and Silver Lake Middle School Principal Jeffrey LuCove said the students are being disciplined at school as well as facing police charges. They declined to discuss the disciplinary measures except to say they could include suspension, loss of bus privileges and counseling. They said they did not know the precise police charges.

Bridget Norton Middleton, spokeswoman for Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz, said no details of the case or the charges would be released because the case involves juveniles.

Kingston police Lt. David Griffiths told the Patriot Ledger of Quincy that a 15-year-old female junior high school student engaged in oral sex with a 16-year-old male high school student as three students cheered. School officials reported the incident to police the same day. Griffiths said all students involved, including those who cheered, will be charged within a week or two.

``We're not exactly sure what we're charging them with,'' he told the newspaper.

At the high school yesterday, students said the two students involved are not a couple, but that they had heard the girl was dared by her friends to perform the act, while the boy allowed her to do it.

``It's disgusting,'' said one high school girl. ``It puts a bad name on our school.''

Another girl, Megan Woodbury, said, ``It just shows that they don't have too much self-respect.''

Others reacted with amusement.

``It sounds like two people did something stupid,'' said Ethan Toronto-Kent.

Kelley said while school officials had hoped to keep the matter private, with the publicity now surrounding the case, they will consider whether to actively address the matter with the student body.

LuCove noted that sexual responsibility is addressed in the health curriculum.

``The curriculum deals with making choices, not being pressured by your peers,'' LuCove said.

Do hip-huggers get on your nerves? You aren't alone, doctor says
By The Globe and Mail

Toronto - Those snug, hip-hugging pants popularized by Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears may be doing more than accentuating the thighs of those brave - or foolhardy - enough to wear them.

An Ontario doctor has discovered that the tight, low-rise trousers can be added to history's long list of fashion health hazards. Three times in the last year, Dr. Malvinder Parmar came across cases in which hip-huggers compressed important nerve routes and produced "paresthesia" - a burning, tingling sensation.

While the nerve damage does not appear to be serious, or permanent, the symptoms may last if the pants are worn regularly, said Parmar, medical director at the Timmins and District Hospital in Timmins, Ont.

"These hip-huggers are a recent fashion trend and they belt up right at the hip-bone area," said Parmar, who identified the britches' downside in a letter to this week's Canadian Medical Association Journal.

The lateral femoral cutaneous nerve runs under both sides of the hip bone and is literally squashed by the hip band of the pants, producing "meralgia paresthetica," or burning, tingling thighs.

"People who suffer these symptoms should not wear these tight pants," he said.

The three women - between 22 and 35 - who turned up in Parmar's office had been bewildered by the unusual sensations in their upper thighs.

At first, the doctor could detect nothing unusual in their physical examinations. The only sign of nerve irritation was mild tenderness near the spine in two of the patients.

One woman was concerned that she had multiple sclerosis and requested an MRI.

When Parmar considered what these women had in common, he realized they were all somewhat overweight and partial to the tight, hip-hugging pants.

To test his theory that the pants were to blame, he advised the women to don loose-fitting dresses.

Their symptoms disappeared after four to six weeks.

Meralgia paresthetica has also been linked to obesity, car seat belts, sitting with crossed legs for extended periods of time and wearing tight corsets or heavy tool belts.

Some patients have also reported pain after routinely wedging their wallets into pants pockets.