After eyeliner, what else will kids do for attention?

The middle-school boy who is wearing eyeliner may want attention. He is probably getting so much attention now that he is getting high fives in the hallway from other students. But what happens next after the novelty of eyeliner wears off? Maybe tattoos, piercing and studs? But that's been done before and there will soon be a heavy metal assisted living facility for the old timers (think of Kiss in motorized wheelchairs). Lip rings? But if you have a girlfriend with the same lip rings you could go into lip lock by kissing. You could have dozens of earrings in each ear, but your parents could magnetize them and make you a refrigerator ornament. Tongue rings are cool, but there are just two little drawbacks. You can't talk and eat. Of course, they could be magnetized too, and you would be stuck to the refrigerator by the tongue. You couldn't call 911 or ACLU and talk. There's neon green, three-foot long spiked hair, but you could sneeze and gel yourself to the ceiling. How would you explain that one to the 911 operator?Even if you could do all of this to the max, then you can think of yourself as a parent with eyeliner, mascara, lipstick, tattoos, piercings, studs, rings, and spiked hair. Your middle-school kid wants to make a statement for attention and is in a crew cut dressing up as a Marine. And that's your daughter! Michael Peters Applegate