New York Magazine uncovers the dirty little secret no parent ever wants to think about: The fact that teen girls often hook up with older guys. It's framed in the context of jaded New York "Kids" (the Larry Clark movie), but the guy who actually penned kids, Harmony Korine, grew up in Nashville, TN, same as me. And I can tell you first hand that you don't have to be rich and live in Manhattan to descend into a boundary-less world of partying, sex and drugs. Teen girls can get fake IDs anywhere. In high school we used to sneak into the Urban Lounge, a dance club in downtown Nashville. We were 16 and 17 and had no problems ordering cocktails. The older men in these clubs had no problems hitting on us either. I remember being 13 and visiting my grandparents in Hollywood, FL, and being hit on by older [gross!] guys on the beach. Happens all the time.

While teen girls may dress older, look older, flirt like they're older and even hook up with older guys -- they're still teen girls. This article should be a wake-up call. Not to lock your daughters in a room until they're 18, but for people to create more public awareness among men like the "Isn't She A Little Young?" PSA campaign I posted about last year. Talking to girls about the emotional pitfalls of hooking up with older guys won't hurt either....or just make them (the guys) seem like pervs for hitting on them in the first place.

Posted by anastasia