Poland Bans Black Market Best-Seller: Nation’s First Sex Education Book

A government commission has declared Poland’s first sex education book unacceptable and formally banned it on Friday from schools, ending a six-month debate that made the text a best-seller on the black market.

“Preparation for Life in the Family” was introduced in high schools last fall to a storm of protest.

One normally pro-government lay Roman Catholic newspaper called it “a textbook for masturbation and defloration.” Another called it a “sex manual for beginners.”

Critics said it violated religious teachings and encouraged pre-marital sex.

After two months of complaints, Minister of National Education Henryk Bednarski in November suspended the book’s use in high schools.

On Friday, official newspapers announced that a special commission appointed by Bednarski to evaluate the book now had banned it permanently.

The controversy didn’t hurt the text’s popularity. The first printing of 500,000 copies sold out in state book stores and is available only at inflated prices on the black market, according to newspaper reports.

The book was designed for use in a nationwide high school course on family life and sexual matters.