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BASEL, Switzerland, June 30, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — A Swiss physician issued a call for teachers to watch pornography with their students in classrooms, and then to discuss it, in order to provide “better sexual education,” claiming that there would be no harm involved for the children.

John Bitzer is a physician at the University Hospital Basel, currently acting as the Head of Multidisciplinary Consultation Sexual Medicine and Sexual Therapy. He formerly led the departments of Psychosomatic and Psychosexual Medicine as well as Obstetrics and Gynecology.

His professional focus on the topic of sexuality has led him to propose a pornography-based education program in the annual 400-page medical publication “Health Forecast.”

“A teenager who is confronted with porn needs sufficient knowledge and experience to understand: This is my reality, and that is the reality in this film,” declared Bitzer.

Apparently concerned about this difference between pornography and reality, Bitzer devised a plan for students, not in order to warn them away from such practices, but in order to point out what is true, and what isn’t.

“Young people have to learn how to deal with these media. We also recommend that teachers talk about porn at school or watch a film with their students.” Such a plan would, Bitzer believes, better educate students about sexuality.

Speaking to 20 Minuten, Bitzer defended the idea by saying that students should not be forced to watch the films, since “voluntariness is important.”

However, in the wake of a 20 percent increase in porn consumption since the start of COVID-19 restrictions, he believed that watching the videos would be in students’ best interest, since it could reduce any potential fears they might have about body image.

“Here it would be important to show young people how different vulvas and penises can look. Or to show them that sex does not always end with an orgasm. Where is the tenderness in these films? This can all be discussed orally, but with a joint critical view of porn, it is probably easier to convey the distorted image that the films convey.”

Bitzer was not concerned about the effect such scenes might have on children, but rather warned about the danger which lay in not discussing such things in the classroom. “If a teenager watches these films alone, there is no confrontation with them,” he stated.

“Unguided sex education through porn or half-assed sex education through other children should be prevented. Teachers or sex educators, on the other hand, can do this educational work professionally.”

Aware of the controversial nature of his proposals, Bitzer appealed to studies, claiming that the data supported his idea, and ruling out any harm to children from the open discussion of pornography. “In the meantime, there are enough studies that show that the fear of early sexualization through talking about sexuality is unfounded. It’s not that children then suddenly ‘go for each other’ or feel that they now have to become sexually active.”

Dagmar Rösler, president of the Teachers’ Association, warned against the proposal, calling it “a red line that must not be crossed.” She appealed to the children’s rights, as well as those of the teachers who would be responsible for leading such classes.

Notwithstanding her opposition to his specific plan, Rösler said, “I can understand what Dr. Bitzer thinks.”

A recent report by UNICEF, based on a study of 19 European Union countries, found that in the majority of countries most children who saw pornographic images were “neither upset nor happy.”

The report did not go unchallenged by family campaigners. “UNICEF’s report ignores the vast body of research demonstrating the harms of pornography to children. By ignoring the real harms pornography can have, UNICEF is playing roulette with children’s health and safety,” said Lisa Thompson, the vice president and director of the Research Institute at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation.

LifeSiteNews columnist and pro-life activist Jonathon Van Maren issued a stern warning against Bitzer’s proposal, noting the deep-rooted consequences that viewing pornography, let alone extensively viewing and discussing it in the classroom, could have.

“A growing body of evidence — including two European studies this year alone — reveals the extent to which pornography rewires the brains of those who consume it, especially during the key years of brain development,” Van Maren stated. “The idea that children should have their innocence destroyed and their outlook on sexuality so profoundly affected at such a young age by being exposed to pornography is ludicrous and wrong.”