Ms. O'Rourke's statement, "to be 15 is to no longer be a child", is the most rediculous statement I have ever heard. SINCE WHEN IS AGE 15 AN ADULT AND NOT A CHILD?!

Did you read the article? I agree that 15 is no longer a "child," and any 15 year old will complain bitterly about being treated like a "child." No, they're not adults yet, they are something in between, and whether the girl is famous or not that's a tough age to figure out. Actually I think the whole middle-school years are the worst, by the time a kid is in high school they start dating, driving and probably work somewhere, too. Definitely sub-adult, definitely not my little baby anymore, and boy do they hate it when I talk to them like that in public. My 12 year old got onto me because I told her to "follow Mommy" when we were at WalMart. (Oh, you let your 12 year old get onto you? No, I didn't "let" her, she just did it anyway, mouthy brat!) How can they figure it out when I can't even figure it out? Don't believe that teens aren't "children" anymore, go watch Juno and find out!

O'Rourke never said to be 15 was to be an adult; she said 15 is no longer a child. It's an in-between time known as adolescence, and it kind of stinks. See above re: the entire article.

Since humans have been around. It wasn't that long ago, in the grand scheme of things, that the average age a woman was married and had her first child was 16 years old. Keep in mind that is an average; it was not uncommon, nor considered inappropriate, for females aged 14 and 15 to get married and have kids.

In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet was 13 years old. Her nurse and mother suggested she marry Paris in one scene. She instead took Romeo as her lover. The two lovers eventually kill themselves. This is hardly Disney themes.

It is not surprising that the average age that people fist have sex is still about 16 despite our cultures relatively recent efforts to extend adolescence into the late 20s and early 30s. It seems adults want children to keep acting like children well past the time they can - and do - begin engaging in adult behavior, and I'm not just talking about sex. The capacity to make important descisions about one's own life begins much earlier than older people like to believe; it's almost as if they forgot what it was like when they were young, or they believe they are doing younger people a favor by trying to hold their development in an extended state of childhood.

La la la (fingers in ears) don't want to hear it. I want my 5 year old to stay that way!

Give me a freakin' break! Oh yes, its perfectly alright for a 15 year old to be photographed topless, and wrapped in a sheet, hair tussled, suggesting a post sex moment. Thats totally normal. In fact, they offer that pose at Sears portrait studio now. Didn't you know?

That is so sick. Pedophelia is an art form now. Is this really what our society has come to? There are laws defining adulthood for a reason. And the argument that girls have in the past, married and had children at this age is a crock-it was called the dark ages for a reason. Thats why things have changed people! Any doctor will tell you that until a female has finished growing and developing, it is not safe for her to reproduce, not just for her safety, but for the child as well.

Pedophelia is not art people. Ooh, the lighting...and the contrast...don't be ridiculous! Anyone making exuses for this picture to be accepted is trying to cover for the fact that they are turned on by a 15yo little girl. To these people, you have an illness, and need to seek help immediately! Please stay away from middle and high schools. The girls there might be too 'artistically tempting' for you. Artistic, not sexual. Of course not.

And the point people seem to be missing is that she is the role model for little kids. The merchandizing for this girl is unfreakinbelievable. $1000 per ticket to see her? But hey, for $5, you can see her practically nude! Hey all you MC/HM fans, go have sex so you can look like your hero afterwards! Wonderful message!

Was she forced to appear in the photograph? No? Then by what authority do you seek to prevent her from appearing in the photo? This is not about pedophelia; it's about control and denial. You want to make about pedophelia because it is easier to falsely shame people than to admit that a 15 year old is old enough to decide to apear in a photograph that borderline sensual, and even though you may not like, there is nothing objectively wrong with it.

Stay away from middle schools? Are you accusing me of being a pedophile? Nice try. Maybe that kind of accusation works in your social cirlcles, but I at least have the decency not to make criminal accusations without proof. Seriously, what kind of person are you?

Here's a little factoid for you:

"According to Regnerus' findings, whereas non-evangelical teens have sex for the first time at age 16.7, the average age for evangelical teens is 16.3. Even worse, evangelical teens are more likely to have had three or more sexual partners (13.7 percent) than their non-evangelical peers (8.9 percent)." Link

So, what were you saying about a post-sex moment for a 15 year old not being normal? You may not think it "normal" (a value judgement, btw), but its happening fairly often. Oh, but I guess teen sex only happened in the "dark ages." My, how far we've come. Hey at least we increased the average age people are getting married (26) even if we haven't increased the age of sex. I guess all those hundreds of years of moralizing and passing laws to "define" adulthood wasn't for naught.

Speaking of those laws, what should one say about a society that passes laws making over half its population criminials? I'd call it a society in denial. All those teen criminals runing around, having sex. Let's put them in jail and pat ourselves on the back for being so civilized. Maybe another few hundred years of moralizing will do the trick, but my guess is we'll just push the age of marriage to 40 while people will still be having sex at 16.

Parallel life here .... as of this morning, my 14 y-o is not allowed on the computer until the 12th of Never due to sassing (and swearing) ... Disney execs and their so-called family movies have led her to believe that grownups are simply obstacles (stupid, misguided or evil, depending on which movie) to be overcome by smart-mouthing, wise-beyond-their-years kids, or sub-adults if you like that term better. I refused to let my girls see Juno -- but someone else did (someone else whose daughter just turned ELEVEN) .. so now I have to watch it with them so they can get Mom's "no-this-is-not-a-happy-ending­" take on it. The worst movie in this vein, however, has to be Cheaper by the Dozen, in which mom wrote a best-seller (why didn't I think of that??) so dad could quit his coaching job, and the kids could continue to run riot.

Cheaper By The Dozen was NOT a Disney movie.

Funny how overprotective moms always have to overgeneralize their 'experience' onto everyone else.

I don’t think that the majority of us believe that teens are non-sexual beings. I still have fond memories set in music video form to Paradise by the Dashboard Lights.

I think the “creepiness” factor comes from adults who appear to be encouraging sexuality and profiting from it.

Oh, and lusting after a sexually mature woman of 15? Not pedophilia.

Pedophilia is defined as the lusting after prepubescent children, NOT lusting after young people with sexually mature bodies.

Otherwise we should arrest about half of all teenagers for being pedophiles.

I never used the word pedophilia. I said creepy and I will stand behind the notion that when adults lust after 15 year olds and try to profit from that lust, it is creepy.

As for one 15 year old lusting after another-that is perfectly appropriate and normal. It is the age discrepancy that makes it creepy.

Nope. Not a child. My 15 year old and 17 year old arenot children either. However, they are also not adults. I let them make a lot more decisions about their life but I still have ultimate veto power.

They are, as the song goes, "...to young to take over, to old to ignore..."

If you're an adult (over 18) and you are turned on by 15yo, then yes, please stay away from schools. Yes, then you would be a perv and a criminal with a mental disease.

I never said that teens weren't sexual beings. Of couse they want to explore their changing bodies with eachother. That is normal. But we're talking minors with minors, not minors and adults. And just because she willingly took the picture doesn't prove anything more than her parents let her make a bad decision. Lots of teens want to do stuff they shouldn't, and its up to their parents to teach them right from wrong. If their parents would rather make a buck off of pimping out their confused kid, then they shouldn't be parents in the first place.

I'm not stupid. I realize kids are having sex at increasingly younger ages. I've had pregnant girls in my middle school classes. But guess what... they had sex with another teenager, not an adult. I've also served on juries for sicko adults touching 16yo innappropriately. If adults lusting after minors makes most of society criminals, then I guess we live in a society of criminals. I must be in the minority of society that thinks that looking at minors and thinking they are "hot" is wrong.

The point I was making, which you obviously missed, is that this girl is a role model to little girls (elementary kids mostly), and she should not be promoting this image that it is ok to go out and have sex because it is this supposed glamorous thing, and she's doing it (no pun intended), so they should too. Yes, she has a right to a private life, and to do what she wants with her body, but she has a responsibility as a role model to keep her private life private if 3-10yo is her target audience. If she wants to change her aim, then do it quickly, and hope she doesn't turn out bombing like Britney Spears.

And another thing: You want to throw definitions out there and you define a 15yo as mature?! Ha ha ha! I'll try not to split my side laughing. Mature means fully formed, and a girl is not "fully formed" at 15. Budding boobies and the monthly visitor does not a "mature woman" make.

And again, I was refering to pedophelia as an adult lusting after a minor. I could care less about teenagers looking at and touching eachother. Try to use some common sense and you won't make such silly mistakes when posting.