Oxfordshire pupils to see child sex exploitation play

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-21477918

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Thousands of school pupils are set to watch a play about children being sexually-exploited by adults.

Chelsea's Choice, based on the real-life experiences of exploited children, will be performed across Oxfordshire.

The county council invited Alter Ego Theatre Company to perform the show for Year 8 and 9 pupils, mostly aged 12-14.

The show will tour secondary schools, starting at St Birinus School, Didcot, with the tour due to end in mid-March.

Council spokesman Jim Leivers said: "The more knowledge and resilience we can give children, the less chance there is of them becoming vulnerable to cunning and predatorial adults."

The show toured some UK schools last year and visited one in Oxfordshire, Banbury Academy.

The school's welfare manager Elaine King said staff were "anxious" before the performance.

"We had worries that the play might be too explicit and upset pupils and then, as a result, parents," she said.

"However, we were so pleased with the event; it was handled absolutely brilliantly."