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Ho Lian-Yi
Mon, Nov 05, 2007
The New Paper
Sex education video title riles parents

GO Have Sex.

It's not as if teenagers, all raging hormones, needed more encouragement.

But that's the title of a new sex education DVD that targets teens - as the picture of three girls in school uniform on its cover indicates.

Priced at $22.90 and produced by local company The Really Fun Connection, the DVD has already sold 1,000 copies since its release on 26Oct.

But is the DVD's title too provocative?

Madam Hau Siew Kiak, 46, a private tutor and parent, saw red.

The mother of two daughters aged 23 and 21 and a 17-year-old son said: 'I think the title is very bad; it's more or less encouraging people to do it.'

Its cover and title may have some parents up in arms but the DVD itself is hardly explicit, as shown by its PG rating.

Ms Janice Toh, 32, a secondary school teacher, said 'it's a bit too much for schoolgoing children'.

Another teacher who declined to be named added that the title sounded pornographic.

The man behind the DVD, Mr Radha Govind, 42, a director of The Really Fun Connection, said he was well aware of the controversy, adding that many parents had already asked him about it.

So why the title?

Speaking over the phone from Bangkok where he is on holiday, he said he wanted to appeal to teens and anything less 'attractive' would not have worked.

'If I have a title like Don't Have Sex, or Clean Sexual Education Programme, teens will have closed minds already,' he said.

He may have a point.

One teenager we spoke to, 17-year-old student Benjamin Chay, said he would watch the movie because of its title - although he also admitted that his reasons have nothing to do with education.

And parents, fear not. Despite the title, the content is hardly explicit - after all, it is rated PG.

The DVD features a short movie about the sex lives of some 17-year-old girls, interviews with teenagers, a studio discussion with parents and teenagers on sexuality and a tutorial on how to wear a condom.

Other than some kissing, the only raunchy moment is when a boy removes a girl's underwear.

The DVD was shot in August in Malaysia for $60,000 said Mr Radha.

All the actors were above 18, he added.

'It was cheaper to shoot in Malaysia. Besides, the acting pool there is bigger,' he explained.

But that doesn't mean the title is misleading, he added.

NOT ADVOCATING SEX

'The message is very clear when you watch the video - you can go have sex, if you are prepared for the consequences,' he said, adding that some of the consequences are illustrated in video.

But Mr Radha added that it doesn't mean that they are advocating sex.

He said the film still shows that abstinence is the best way. The teens in the show wrestle with relationship problems.

Still, despite the intentions, some parents say the title is too suggestive.

Dr Peck Thian Guan, 45, a director of safety, health and environment who has three boys aged 7 to 12, said the combination of the girls and the title was too suggestive.

He said: 'Even if the content has the right values, what about the children and teens who may see the cover but not watch the movie, and jump to the 'wrong conclusion'?

'The packaging has to be right.'


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