Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal
Deputy District Attorney Melanie Porter asked the classroom full of eighth-graders if any of them had ever "pantsed" anyone.
Giggles erupted, and a few student raised their hands in confession of engaging in the prank of yanking down the pants of an unsuspecting classmate.
"Yeah, it's funny. Until someone gets offended and files a police report," she explained. "You could get arrested and charged with indecent conduct."
Porter, who is on maternity leave and showed up for the presentation Friday with her 7-week-old baby, Caroline, concluded a week of discussing criminal behaviors in Mike Hellman's health class at Eagle Valley Middle School.
Hellman said the discussions, like all others in his class, have been frank.
"They've been given the sugar-coated version for quite a while," he said. "You can't sugar coat it anymore. By the time they hit middle school, they've already been experimenting with sex, not all of them, but some."
Earlier in the week, Jenny Jarvis, a health information manager for the Nevada Public Health Foundation, spoke to the students about sex crimes, including statutory rape.
She told them the legal age of consent in Nevada is 16 and anyone 18 and over who has sex with someone underage will be considered a sex offender, which can make it difficult to get a job or form lasting relationships.
Porter said youth, and even adults, may not know they're breaking the law.
"We see kids end up in the juvenile justice system all they time who didn't know they'd committed a crime," she said. "If we can do something to prevent that, then we're a leg up."
She warned students against a growing trend known as "sexting," where kids take lewd pictures of themselves or others then send them via cell phone or post them on the Internet.
Anyone taking, sending or receiving the messages, she said, could be charged with a child pornography crime, even if a student sends a picture of him or herself.
Adrienne Wungnema, 14, said she found the presentations informative.
"I think it was very helpful," she said. "I knew some of it but not all of it."