Nine San Diego 7th-Graders Caught Masturbating In Class While Watching Porn

The joys of technology in the classroom.

Pat Dollard reports, "Middle Schoolers Suspended For Masturbating While Watching Porn on Cellphones in Class."

But wait!

It turns out there's more to the story, at Huffington Post, "San Diego Students Suspended After 'Gay Test' Involving Watching Porn Videos On Cell Phones":

Nine seventh grade students at a San Diego-based middle school were suspended last month after watching pornographic videos as part of a so-called "gay test," according to reports.

According to U-T San Diego News, students in all-boys English class at Bell Middle School in Paradise Hills allegedly wore gym shorts as they watched videos on their cell phones. Whoever became sexually aroused while watching the videos was labeled gay, and several adolescents masturbated openly during the class.

In addition, peers complained of inaction by teacher Ed Johnson, who is now reportedly under fire because he did not respond to students who told him about the behavior while it was allegedly happening, according to NBC San Diego.

Among those to condemn the news was Patiti Boman of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, who called the incident "terrible," even though Bell Middle School officials have yet to confirm many details.

"I was thinking we were getting better and that’s why we go out and speak in schools. This is news to me and this gives me chills,” Boman, part of the team which helped craft the district’s anti-harassment policy, told U-T San Diego news. "They use that to attack and intimidate."

Oh brother.

They're 7th graders and obviously their teacher doesn't know how to manage a classroom. So instead of a discipline problem (and the appropriate consequences for the boys), this case will likely metastasize into a "hate crimes" investigation against these kids.

It's not getting any easier to be a kid these days, that's for sure.