Screwed for Life

A few weeks ago two teenage boys in New Jersey were convicted as sex offenders - a lifelong status they will never be rid of - for horsing around. The crime these two 14-year-olds committed was sitting, bare-butted on another kid's face. The were being 14 year old boys. And unless the appellate courts overturn the conviction, neither can become a teacher or a volunteer who comes anywhere near minors. Preschools and YMCAs will have to post their pictures in the lobby if they live withing three miles of the location, - and other such great punishments. Oh I suppose they might be able to become lawyers or politicians but basically for anything else they are screwed.
For life.
I am not saying what they did is right, nor am I claiming that the act would not have been humiliating or disgusting for the kid on the bottom (two years their junior). But what I will say is that it was not rape and it was not too far afield from what teen age boys have been doing for eons. Boys have been lighting farts, mooning school buses, comparing penis sizes and a whole host of other indescribable and unsavory actions since there have been boys on the planet. Again - it does not justify their actions. But do such actions warrant a life sentence?
I really want to go on a rant right here, but I am speechless. Our society has gone too far. Boys are labeled ADHD for their naturally high energy; boys are not permitted to struggle and fight (and learn that it hurts) so they never find out till it's too late; boys don't get to lose in games (everyone is a winner) so they have no concept of how to cope with and learn from their difficulties; and boys are seen as sexual predators. There was a recent case of a kindergarten boy who was expelled (from kindergarten) for what the teacher called sexual harassment (he hugged two girls). I constantly have to remind my 13 year old son that he needs to be very careful about what he says and how he jokes, least he be likewise charged and have his future ruined.
Enough already - it is not sinful to be a boy, stupid at times, but not a sin.