Lauren Potter and Jane Lynch of Fox's "Glee" star in the PSA about not using the 'R' word: "Not Acceptable".
Parents and teens need to know about some of the laws that have passed in Texas and are taking effect with the new year, particularly the one about sexting, which is now a misdemeanor. Here?s a look at some of the laws that may affect your health, along with a few that passed in other states that I wish would be considered here.
SEXTING: Starting today, youth who sext ? sending sexually explicit pictures or messages usually between cell phones ? can be charged with a misdemeanor, which could mean jail time. Underage kids who are convicted will take a state-sponsored educational class about the dangers of sexting with a parent. A conviction may be removed from the youth?s record at 18.
TEEN SEX: Youth who have consensual sex with someone 15 years or older will no longer have to register as sex offenders if there is less than a four-year age gap between the couple.
SPECIAL NEEDS: When I interviewed Special Olympics CEO Timothy Shriver, he told me how offensive the ?R? word was. I think he and the supporters of the Spread the Word to End the Word effort would be happy to learn that in Texas, the term ?mental retardation,? long considered offensive, will be replaced with references to developmental and intellectual disabilities. In another welcome law, statewide AMBER alerts, traditionally made for abducted children, can now also be made for missing adults with diagnosed intellectual developmental disabilities.
MEDICATION FOR KIDS: Daycare center workers, before or after school care providers and workers in group daycare homes need written parental permission to give medicine, including prescriptions and over the counter medications, to a child or they will face prosecution. The sad inspiration for this bill was the death of 3 1/2 month old Nathan King of Bryan, Texas, who died in 2008 of sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS, after day-care workers gave him medication, diphenhydramine (commonly known as Benadryl), that had not been approved by his parents.
BOATING SAFETY: Do you like boating? If you?re born after Sept. 1, 1993, you have to complete a boater safety education course first.?Boaters must keep a valid ID and documents showing that they passed a boater education course with them. You also have to be at least 13 or supervised by someone older than 18, who can legally operate a motoboat, to operate a motorboat with a motor of more than 15 horsepower.
Here?s some laws that passed in other states that I?d love to see considered here:
TEENS AND DEFIBRILLATORS: Illinois now requires all middle school students in grades 6-8 to learn how to use a defibrillator. Way to go, Illinois! We have lost too many wonderful adults and kids, like Zachary Schrah, to sudden cardiac arrest because defibrillators were not readily available or people did not know how to use them.
ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES: New York now bans the sale of electronic cigarettes to kids. Electronic cigarettes serve a need for adults trying to kick the smoking habit, but sales to kids seem to have the opposite effect in promoting smoking as cool, especially when the electronic cigarettes are marketed in candy flavors. With smoking being one of the hardest habits to break, I applaud New York for doing its best not to tempt kids to start.
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