'Try something new today...' blundering Sainsbury's gives booklet on sex positions to eight-year-olds
By Andrew Levy
Last updated at 2:02 AM on 13th November 2008
They probably expected a goody bag of some sorts as a going home gift after the primary school trip to Sainsbury's.
But what the 42 children - not to mention their parents and teachers - did not expect was to be given a book with explicit illustrations of sexual positions.
And the advice under the dozen drawings, which feature in a section about saving water by 'bathing with a friend', reads: 'Save water. Have fun. Just get out before everything becomes wrinkled.'
Other inappropriate suggestions in the £5 book from Sainsbury's - whose advertising slogan is Try Something New Today - include encouraging readers to shave in intimate places, streaking, talking to strangers and handing out your phone number to five people on the street.
Inappropriate: Two of 12 ways that children were shown how to 'have fun in the bath' in the Sainsbury's leaflet
The book, entitled How To Change The World For A Fiver, was mistakenly given to the Year 4 pupils, aged between eight and nine, from Burton End primary, Suffolk, during a visit to the supermarket in Haverhill.
The blunder came to light only when a father heard his daughter giggling with friends as they flicked through the pages.
Engineer Andrew Dodd, 37, whose daughter Laura is eight, said: 'I was furious. It was extremely inappropriate and irresponsible to give to children.
'On the "Having Fun in the Bath" pages there were little drawings of about 12 sexual positions.
Explicit: Readers were encouraged to save water by ‘bathing with a friend’
'But the worst bit was where it encouraged you to go and talk to strangers. It's the opposite message to what you should be giving to kids. I don't think the school realised what was in the book.
'The teachers were as horrified as we were when they saw it.
'Laura thought it was funny but thankfully she didn't really understand it.'
A Sainsbury's spokesman said: 'This was a well-intentioned mistake. It is a very nice book about how to make the world a better place but it is not targeted at children.
'The books were given to store staff by head office because they mentioned the company's positive environmental activities.
Blunder: Sainsbury's said they made a mistake giving children the book, which also encouraged readers to shave intimate places, streak and chat up strangers
'A few spare copies were left over in the store which were given as presents to the visiting children.
'The cover looks like a kid's book. This was a mix-up and we would like to apologise for any distress caused. It certainly won't happen again.'
But Nick Seaton, of the Campaign for Real Education, criticised Sainsbury's for not making basic checks before handing out the books.
'This would be offensive to some adults, let alone children,' he said. 'This wasn't a mistake. It was an unacceptable failure on Sainsbury's part.
'Young minds are the most malleable and this incident has robbed a large number of children of their innocence. They should be ashamed.'
The book was produced by a company called We Are What We Do, which says its mission is to inspire people to change the world one small action at a time.
It also produces children's version of How To Change The World For £5 which is called Teach Your Granny to Text and has been sent to primary schools across the country.
Sainsbury's is sending Mr Dodd's daughter a £30 voucher to spend in the store.
Adults only: Sainsbury's said of Change the World for a Fiver: 'It is a very nice book about how to make the world a better place, but it is not targeted at children'
------------
A few key comments:
Are my children safe in this country? Can I ever hope to protect them either from irresponsible adults, or unsuitable literature and education? What about the people who are not shielded and protected from these crass edu-leaflets we keep seeing or hearing about? They pose a real threat to decent people by lowering societiy's morals and expectations. No wonder teenage pregnancies and STDs are on the rise when it's accepted that this behaviour is almost the norm.
Whatever happened to common decency??
- ******, UK, 12/11/2008 18:03
very inapprropriate! why not severly punish those responsible to set a precedent and example to deter others from fragrantly violating the inocence of vunerable and impressionable young children. why can't we protect our children from deviants, molestors and violence?
- ***********, warrenton,virginia usa, 12/11/2008 18:25
and then...
What are the other six positions? Purely for research purposes, you understand...
- *********, UK, 12/11/2008 11:02
ahh...that normalizes things a bit now doesn't it? back to saving the world, thanks :)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment