Teens are sending naughty camera phone pics of themselves to friends and crushes! And then, magically, those photos get forwarded around and posted online, bringing shame and depression to their creators! [AP] But if Pete Wentz can do it …

Is email the new telegraph? With the pre-pubescent set using twitter, IM and Facebook instead of email, the tech folks at Slate think the electronic letter is dying.

Of course, Slate’s deck head for technology articles is “The Future And What To Do About It,” which seems excessively foreboding.

The point is that teenagers, who mind you, are the future, don’t have the patience for e-mail.

CONTINUED »

Why aren't there magazines for teenage boys? Well, for one, we have Maxim. And Maxim online. Not to mention "the general consensus" according to Jeff Bercovici that teen guys aren't interested in anything besides videogames or skateboarding.

On Eat the Press today, Melissa Lafsky chats up the likes of Atoosa Rubenstein, David Zinczenko, and Maxim entertainment editor Eric Gillin. Their shared combined perspectives seem to shed some light on the reasons why advertisers hold tightly to their "teen boy" reach via Internet and television mantra. Which, for us anyway, sheds light on the viability potential for AOL's latest launch, Lat34.com.

AOL has launched Lat34.com, a Web site centered around action sports such as surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding, through a partnership with the production company Fusion Entertainment.

Entertaining, action-like (read "videogames"), skateboarding and surfing via the Internet? And just when we thought Ariel Foxman (read "the male Atoosa") had a shot at finding his next gig.

TEENAGE WASTELAND: Where Are The Mags for Teenage Boys? [Melissa Lafsky, Eat the Press]
AOL Launches Lat34.com [Mike Shields, Mediaweek]

Because our editor is currently in Illinois, and went to a high school near the one referenced in this story, and because any articles that call MySpace a blog deserve to be ripped on, we bring this Mean Girls-esque breaking news from Libertyville, IL.

High school students are going to be held accountable for what they post on blogs and on social-networking Web sites such as MySpace.com.

The board of Community High School District 128 voted unanimously on Monday to require that all students participating in extracurricular activities sign a pledge agreeing that evidence of "illegal or inappropriate" behavior posted on the Internet could be grounds for disciplinary action.

Like, you're not supposed pictures of you doing drugs or drinking underage on your private MySpace page? Psha! Whatevs, it's like a requirement to do drugs and get hammered to get over 200 friends on this not a blog website.

Especially if you want to get into Lindsay Lohan's top 8 and thereby guarantee your rightful title of homecoming queen.

School District to Monitor Student Blogs [AP News]

The fear of smelling like a Blimpies sub store or getting your period all over yourself is apparently not a "hip" enough reason to buy deodorant or tampons.

Teens today really, really, need music and internet advertising to tap into their personal hygiene needs.

Branding experts say he is onto something. "There's really nothing cool about deodorants or tampons, but music can wrap them with a cloak of hipness," said Michael Watras, president of Straightline International, a New York brand consultant.

Nope, really nothing cool. Nothing cool at all about making sure there isn't blood all over your seat in algebra when you get up to answer the problems on the chalkboard or not being one of the people on the bus that everyone slowly inches away from.

If only Gwen Stefani could somehow make brushing our teeth and wiping our asses cool again, teens wouldn't be so freakin' disgusting anymore.

Trying to Make Teenage Hygiene Hip [Claudia H. Deutsch, New York Times]