Look who crossed the line. Look who broke taboo.

It's the formation of the crowd around the kid who threw the punch.

The recent legislation is only further proof of parents' unwillingness to sit at the table and begin the conversation. Whether it's rooted in intimidation by technology, detached ignorance, or complete ineptitude, by simply relegating authority to a higher power, parents are declaring they'd rather restrict than parent. But would an appearance in court have taught Annie a lesson any better than her own humiliation? Would it have eased the pain of exposure? Would it have kept the other girls from sticking dollar bills in her pants at parties? Would it have taught her that there are healthier ways to express her own sexuality? Would it have done any of the things that a parent is put on earth to do?

It certainly would have made a public example of her. Like the putting of the head on the post -- others be warned. But even this does little to curb teenage impulsivity or naiveté. According to a recent study at the University of Utah, a third of teens who have sent a sexually explicit photo did so despite their knowledge of the significant consequences they could face if caught.

Maybe a court-ordered education program is just what they need? A national poll by the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital found that 81 percent of parents believe that teens who sext should attend such programs. On the surface, this may seem sensible, but do they really believe their own counsel to be so thoroughly incompetent? Do they really believe their kids -- if these programs are anything like the ones currently in place for underage drinking and marijuana -- are going to take the PowerPoints seriously? Bring home their certificate of course completion to proudly tack to their walls?

What we need is a cultural shift, not towards leniency, but towards an open dialogue, one that recognizes that sexual activity is a reality for most teens and that it's part of their nature to test the waters, however wantonly. Our hope should be to arm them with the right set of values to take along the way. As Dr. Donald Strassberg, the author of the Utah study, told me, "Until we learn to be comfortable talking about sex, to each other and our kids, we're unlikely to develop (as individuals or as a culture) a healthy attitude about it."

For parents to rely on, or even to allow for, such legislation is to sacrifice the fundamentally innocent on the altar of their own irresponsibility, for the sake their own comfort. Eroticism should be addressed in a way that is comparable to the sensitivity and intimacy of its nature, especially after such moments of painful mass exposure -- not hung out for display in the cold, impersonal air of a courtroom.