Of course, back then it wasn't funny. I have a distinct recollection of cleaning the garage on my day off.
My school was state-of-the- art when it opened in the early 1970s. The morning announcements were delivered via closed-circuit cable TV instead of the customary public-address system. One day the video squad was recording my gym class. That's when I mooned the camera.
I guess you could say I was ahead of my time. I got tripped up on tape back in an era when the only video game was Pong.
The temptation is to say that kids today do boneheaded things we would never have done. I disagree. We did - OK, I did - plenty of stupid things back then, too.
What changed? E-mail, texting, and video and camera phones have ended the era of deniability. Events that would once have faded with human memory are now permanent. Which is perhaps the greatest bit of wisdom a parent can offer these days.
Michael Phelps just learned that lesson. So, too, did Prince Harry and the multitudes caught up in something called "sexting."
Phelps was forced to apologize for his "regrettable" behavior after a British tabloid printed a photo showing the 14-time gold medalist clutching a bong during a November party at the University of South Carolina. Phelps isn't at risk of losing his medals, nor is his swimming career in peril. But his lucrative endorsements - and his wallet - stand to take a hit (pun intended).
And last month, Prince Harry embarrassed the royal family when a series of video clips surfaced in which the prince mocks his way through a fake phone call with the queen, calls a fellow soldier "our little Paki friend," and tells another that the towel he was wearing made him look like a "rag-head."
