A graphic Channel 4 show which will provide sexually explicit advice to teens has been branded “pornographic” by the UK’s leading media campaign group.
The controversial show, entitled The Joy of Teen Sex, features lesbian sex and a “guide to anal sex”.
The show is due to be aired later this month amid news reports of teenage girls being lured into sex slavery, and a Government investigation into the sexualisation of childhood.
Porn
Vivienne Pattison, director of MediaWatch UK, said: “This programme crosses the line into prurience, with graphic scenes of sex that can only be described as pornographic.”
The contentious show, which centres around visitors to a walk-in sex clinic, will be fronted by Dr Rachael Jones, social worker Ruth Corden and “resident sex coach” Joanna.
One of the show’s episodes will include sexually explicit lesbian images being shown to a 17-year-old girl who is “keen to learn some more tricks to pleasure girls”.
Drag Queen
Another of the show’s subjects is a 20-year-old homosexual drag queen who has concerns about losing his virginity.
The young man is given advice on foreplay to make him become “more accustomed to the idea of anal sex”.
But Vivienne Pattison expressed doubt over the man’s sexuality saying: “There does seem some doubt in his mind.”
Teen sex
“Also, if you make a programme with the words ‘teen sex’ in the title, you are surely asking for trouble. A teenager who enters that into a search engine will surely yield rather different results on top of the advice programme they were looking for”, she added.
A spokesman for the broadcaster said: “Sex is part of every teenager’s life. This new series is not your typical sex education programme. It offers a frank exploration of the love and sex lives of today’s teenagers.
“No subject is off-limits, from teen pregnancy to sexual performance and genital health as the series will shine the spotlight on issues that young people care about and experience in their love and sex lives.”
Explicit
In December Communications Minister Ed Vaizey called for broadband providers to do more to protect children from sexually explicit material.
Mr Vaizey said he wanted internet service providers to begin blocking pornographic websites at the source, meaning that people who want to view them would need to ‘opt-in’ to lift the restrictions.
The recent letter published in The Sunday Times welcoming the move said there “is growing concern about the ‘sexualisation of childhood’, and the Prime Minister has voiced fears that we are sleepwalking into a society where ‘porn is the norm'”.
Penalise
Speaking before the general election, David Cameron said he planned to tackle the premature sexualisation of childhood.
He said: “More and more today, sexual-provocative images are invading public space – space shared by children.
“In the Tube station, at the bus stop, on the billboard – there’s the creeping sense that we’re sleepwalking to a place where ‘porn is the norm’.”
Protect
He added: “After all, it’s our shared responsibility to protect children from aggressive commercialism and premature sexualisation.
“This is not about being prudish or old-fashioned. It’s about remembering the simple pleasures of our own childhood – and making sure our children can enjoy them too.”