The Christian Institute spoke out today against a new sex education board game which requires youngsters to play with a life-size model penis.

Simon Calvert, Deputy Director of The Christian Institute, said:

"This game is just corrupting. The idea is for children to work their way around a board using dice and counters in the shape of different contraceptives. As part of the game they are asked to put a real condom on a life-size rubber penis. In any other setting, an adult who asked a 13 year-old to play a game like this would be liable to be arrested. Why does calling it 'sex education' make it acceptable?"

Dr Seyi Hotonu, a researcher at the Institute and previously a specialist in Genito-Urinary Medicine, said,

"The American experience has shown that increasingly explicit sex education is not the answer to the growing problem of sexually transmitted diseases and teenage pregnancy. Those who advocate this kind of 'harm reduction' approach treat all children as if they are slaves to their sexual desires, incapable of controlling themselves. They approach sex education as if every child in the classroom is sexually active and so every child has to be shown in explicit detail how to have 'safer sex'. This is wrong. The great majority of school-age children are not sexually active. The answer, as the USA shows, is to respect children's innocence and teach them how to say no."

Contact: Simon Calvert on 0191 281 5664.

Note for Editors: The Christian Institute is a charity which seeks to promote the Christian faith in the UK and give a Christian perspective on moral and ethical issues.