Okay, here goes a guilty mom confession: In my zeal to multi-task, I sometimes talk on the cell phone while I drive. I know. It's wrong and it's totally illegal here in California. But, if it's a quick call and the cops aren't watching...Well, you know where this is going.

But here is something that gave me pause: Apparently teenagers are the worst offenders of driving while yakking on the phone, according to an article in MSN Money. The idea of a teenaged Ari or Eli yakking while driving made me hang up forever. (Seriously, this time I am quitting for good!)

Staking out high school parking lots in North Carolina, researchers found the number of teen drivers on cell phones was essentially unchanged after the state banned the practice, according to a study released last week by the nonprofit Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Two months before the ban's December 2006 start, 11% of teen drivers were observed using cell phones as they left school in the afternoon. About five months after the ban went into effect, 12% of teen drivers were spotted using phones.

Girls were more likely than boys to use their cell phones while driving. SUV drivers were more likely than sedan drivers, and solo drivers were more likely than those with passengers, the study said.

Cell phone use remained steady -- about 13% -- at comparison sites in South Carolina, where teen driver cell phone use isn't restricted.

Then again, my kids will be taking public transportation as I don't want them driving at all. Ha!

On a more serious note, have you discussed DWY with your teenagers? Do YOU talk on the phone while driving?

The Bay State doesn't want to ban all video games -- just the ones "harmful to minors."

If Boston Mayor Tom Menino and other prominent state legislators have their way, Gov. Deval Patrick will sign into law House Bill 1423, which would prohibit the sale of violent and sexually explicit video games to anyone under the age of 18.

“Harmful to minors”, matter is harmful to minors if it is obscene or, if taken as a whole, it (1) describes or represents nudity, sexual conduct or sexual excitement, so as to appeal predominantly to the prurient interest of minors; (2) depicts violence in a manner patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community, so as to appeal predominantly to the morbid interest in violence of minors; (3) is patently contrary to prevailing standards of adults in the county where the offense was committed as to suitable material for such minors; and (4) lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for minors.”

As Stephen King, an author not short on R-Rated material himself, pointed out in an Entertainment Weekly column, politicians usually scapegoat violent video games, movies, music -- popular culture, if you will -- to score cheap political points. Even though King himself is not a gamer, he reprimanded Massachusetts legislators for attempting to play "surrogate parents."

One of HB 1423's cosponsors is Rep. Christine E. Canavan, of Brockton. ''I think this legislation is a good idea,'' she told the Boston Herald. ''I don't want this constant barrage of violence on young minds and for them to think it is all right.'' It's a good point...except that it seems to me that the games only reflect a violence that already exists in the society.

Nor will I argue for the artistic value of stuff like God of War, or 50 Cent: Bulletproof, where looting the victims of gang violence is part of the game (players use the money to buy new Fiddy tunes and music videos — classy). I do, however, want to point out that videogames, like movies, have a ratings system, and ones with the big M or A on the box mean ''Not for you, baby brother.''

And if there's violence to be had, the kids are gonna find a way to get it, just as they'll find a way to get all-day shooters like No Country for Old Men from cable if they want. Or Girls Gone Wild, for that matter. Can parents block that stuff? You bet. But most never do. The most effective bar against what was called ''the seduction of the innocent'' when this hot-button issue centered on violent comic books 60 years ago is still parents who know and care not just about what their kids are watching and reading, but what they're doing and who they're hanging with. Parents need to have the guts to forbid material they find objectionable...and then explain why it's being forbidden. They also need to monitor their children's lives in the pop culture — which means a lot more than seeing what games they're renting down the street.

If HB 1423 becomes law, will it remain law? Doubtful. Similar legislation has been declared unconstitutional in several states. Could Massachusetts legislators find better ways to watch out for the kiddies? Man, I sure hope so, because there's a lot more to America's culture of violence than Resident Evil 4.

Gloria wrote a post last month about an Illinois girl who got slapped with detention for hugging at school. And her own daughter served detention after an "older man"- her crush from a neighboring high school- came to campus and gave her a squeeze.

Well, a school here in good old Orange County has managed to top that: they SUSPENDED two students for hallway hugging.

Their crime? Being repeat, serial huggers:

Students who continue to hug after at least one warning violate the state's education code for defiance of authority, according to Principal Tracey Vander-Hayden.

The Hewes Code of Ethics in students' handbooks states a "hands off" policy, specifically citing no "hugging, holding hands, etc."...

The type of hugging that can result in suspension, Vander-Hayden said, is "full frontal hugging that's chest to chest and hip to hip." The policy applies to both mutual and unwanted hugging.

Parents and students picketed outside the school this morning with cute, homemade signs bearing slogans like "Hugs don't make thugs."

What say you, ladies? Will we be sending our children to school in large, plastic bubbles before we know it?