When I was in high school many moons ago, getting a girl's attention took creativity, wit, some charm and the occasional gift. Based on what I see these days and what I get from some parents, today's high school dating game is a whole different ball game.

Back when I was in high school, even bad girls took some getting. They would play hard to get but that was only a ruse so they wouldn't look like they were 'easy'. All it took was some persistence - for a week or two - and all would be revealed. For some girls these days, two weeks would seem like an eternity.

selling flesh

It was just this week that a parent told me how girls keep coming at her son, throwing themselves at him like he was the last man on the planet and they were the willing servants, eager to repopulate the Earth. But it didn't take my friend to reveal that to me. Have you seen how some of these teenage girls dress these days? I am amazed their parents let them out of the house dressed in those super short shorts and barely their blouses. It's like they're selling flesh on the public shopping network.

There is no mystery anymore. Back when I was in high school we'd get excited just to see the tan lines on a girl's ankle from the socks she'd be wearing during the week. My friends and I would get even more excited seeing our girlfriends and their friends wearing Ferlucci jeans, halter and strap blouses and nail polish. There was this mystery about them because even though they were really sexy to us boys, they would be mostly covered. We never even saw a girl's belly button unless we were at the beach, and that never happened very often.

There is a lot less mystery these days because the girls are all up in the boys' faces, with their barely covered bodies, multiple piercings and tattoos. Yet they wonder why they don't keep boyfriends for more than a few weeks at a time. If there's no mystery, half the fun is gone. Boys don't respect girls who don't respect themselves.

That being said, the bigger mystery to me is the boys some of these girls choose to be their boyfriends. I was at a track meet recently when I came upon a fairly decent looking girl - of course, she was barely dressed - gazing lovingly into the eyes of a boy who looked like one of those evildoers from the Mad Max movies. I am sure she doesn't take him home to meet her parents. Then again, what do I know; maybe she does.

tight pants

All I know is that if she was my daughter and she dragged that boy to my front door, she was going to have serious issues with me. It annoys me immensely seeing these young boys in these tight pants that seem like they're holding on for dear life.

I guess it's the way we raise our kids that make the difference in the way they behave and the people they attract. If I had a daughter and she was going out to some public event, I am making sure she isn't wearing some skimpy bare-as-you-dare outfit underneath or have it stashed in a bag somewhere. The way I see it my child represents me and as long as she, or he, lives under my roof, they will behave like civilised people and not like wild beasts with raging hormones.

I get that we live in a very sexualised world where kids are constantly bombarded by sexual imagery but home training, I believe, can help diffuse some of the impact that it has on our children.

Teenagers are hormones walking around in clothes, I know, but teaching them how to respect themselves and their peers is something that I think more parents need to do. For while you really can't stop your kids from acting on their sexual instincts, you can at least have them do it in a much more civilised manner.

Levyl1@hotmail.com