Oregon Public Broadcasting

A judge ruled this week that two 13-year-old boys in McMinnville will go to trial next week on charges of sexual harassment.

The Patton Middle School students are accused of slapping and touching girls’ rear ends and touching their breasts. The case has generated nationwide interest and the Yamhill county D.A. has taken a lot of heat for her choice to pursue the two boys in court.

Teenage sexual behavior isn’t a subject that most people want to talk about—and that could be a big part of the problem.  So says clinical psychologist Barbara Bonner at the National Center on Sexual Behavior of Youth.

She says an incident like the one in McMinnville could provide a teachable moment.

Barbara Bonner is a Ph.D. and clinical psychologist at the National Center on Sexual Behavior of Youth at the University of Oklahoma.