All things reasonable...except the ones I forgot

"So today, we're going to talk about sexual harassment." No sooner had George uttered the last word, when he noticed the smotheringly heavy blanket of discomfort, which had enveloped the room and its occupants.

Looking to his co-facilitator for telepathic support, Goerge considered how to turn his statement into a joke, but he knew this was important, so he breathed, focused, and slowly let his shoulders relax.

"We're going to look at sexual harassment from the context of our first UU principle, we covenant to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of all people."

His tension dissipated, George went straight for the center. He and Fran had already discussed how they might approach this topic with the teens and being cognizant of having only forty minutes for today's message, George knew efficiency would be important.

"This past week, I heard about a high school student, who logged into his younger brother's email account and emailed a middle school girl with the message, "Do you wanna have sex with me?"

George paused and looked around the room. There were some smiles, a few were suppressed giggles, but George's eye was caught by a sophomore, who looked perturbed. She glanced around the room, put on a quick smile, feigned some subtle laughter, and then looked down as her smile melted.

George continued, "the older brother thought this was deliciously funny, however, I wonder how fun it was for that middle school girl to receive that email?" George looked around the room and saw that no one was tempted to laugh now.

"I don't think the older brother intended to make that girl uncomfortable, he wanted to play a practical joke on his little brother. However, according to several web sites, that type of practical joke is considered sexual harassment. Also, a local police officer let me know that this sort of activity could be considered criminal. On the surface it may seem like and clever and hilarious practical joke, but in reality, it is not OK."