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Toronto School Issues BDSM Safety Guide

We have all heard about the book and film ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’. Whether it is a true reflection of the BDSM world is open to question. Actually, I will scratch that, I think any of us experts here know full well it isn’t. It has however, brought the kinky world into the consciousness of people from all around the developed world.

One thing I never thought of though, was that it would get kids interested in our naughty world. These children/young adults are less likely to find their way to our website and get our safety tips. They are more likely to jump straight in and start tying each other up, and doing all the other things which are rather unsafe, unless you are doing them properly.

This is why we were happy to hear about a school in Toronto, Canada who have distributed a bondage safety guide for the kids.

Mixed Opinions

One teen brought home the pamphlet from a school fair. However, it didn’t seem to impress her mother one bit though. She stated that she didn’t want her daughter (who was 16) exposed to these kind of messages at school.

“If, as they say, it takes a community to raise a child, isn’t it at least worth informing the parents that this type of education is going to be taught?” the mother said to Moore. “I certainly would not have allowed my child to attend had I known.”

The front of the pamphlet states “BDSM: Safer Kinky Sex. If sexually explicit information about BDSM activities might offend you, then this resource is not for you.”

Seems to be pretty straightforward. However, the Toronto District School Board don’t really seem that impressed about it.

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“We are currently looking into this further to determine if and how this pamphlet was made available,” spokesman Ryan Bird told the Toronto Sun. “The pamphlet was not created by the TDSB, nor was it vetted or approved by the TDSB.”

It seems that this pamphlet was originally found on the AIDS Committee of Toronto website. The group say they never distributed it at the school, but they certainly agree that distributing information like this has its merits.

“Representatives of ACT were not responsible for distributing our BDSM guide at West Toronto Alternative. We ensure all of our volunteers and staff are provided with comprehensive training surrounding the appropriate distribution of ACT materials,” said Chris Thomas, communications co-ordinator.

“People interested in kink or BDSM — as with all types of consensual sex — benefit from having access to safer sex and harm reduction strategies, and that is the intention of this guide.”

Real Benefits

I have to say, I really don’t see a problem with these safety tips. For me, it reminds me of the old debates regarding safe sex. Many people at the time thought that encouraging kids to use condoms would make them more likely to have sex. What transpired was that that idea was wrong in the extreme. It just meant that kids who were going to follow a specific route were more likely to do it in a safe manner.

It is the same with bondage and the kinky world. I would rather kids get taught how to perform BDSM properly, rather than end up dead after screwing it up. It really doesn’t seem like rocket science.

I really hope that no-one gets into real trouble over this. It seems that there are people who are going to kick off, which is a shame. Seriously though, no-one can say it wasn’t done with the best of intentions, even if they don’t agree with it being done.

We will certainly keep you up to date with how this story develops.

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