Year 7 girls have been warned not to have multiple sex partners or risk becoming like overused sticky tape, in a Christian sex education program at a public Victorian high school.

The students at Fairhills High School, in Knoxfield in Melbourne's outer east, were also told that a chemical released in females' brains made them more needy than boys.  

A booklet titled 'Science & Facts', that was given to the students, said that "girls are needier than guys in a relationship and always want to be close".



It said that a chemical called oxytocin, is released when "two people touch", and was produced by women more than men, making them needier. 

"If a woman becomes physically close and hugs a guy for 20 seconds it will trigger the bonding process, creating a greater desire to be near him. Then if the guy wants to take the relationship further it will become harder for her to say no," the booklet said.

It warned that having too many relationships could break "this special chemical bond" and harm a woman's capacity to form future relationships.

"Having multiple sex partners is almost like tape that loses its stickiness after being applied and removed multiple times. So the more you have the harder it is to bond to the next," it said.

The booklet was given out during a weekly youth program run by Epic Youth, which is part of a Melbourne Pentecostal megachurch called CityLife, and was delivered during school hours in June.

A mother of one of the students, who did not want to be named, was shocked when her daughter came home with the booklet last week, after attending the classes for a month. The school had not sought parental consent to deliver the program. 

"You try so hard to teach girls not to be ashamed and not to feel like men can take liberties with them ... it is dangerous and unhealthy to teach this to girls, especially whilst they're going through adolescence," the mother said.

When asked about the program, CityLife Church executive minister Peter Leigh said the organisation "cares a lot about seeing young people grow up well and engaged positively in every area of life". 

"The purpose of our school-based programs is to, alongside what schools are already doing, build positive messages into young people around a range of different areas of life," he said.

Fairhills High School acting principal Russell Poulier said the school had cancelled the program and would launch an investigation with the Education Department into why the program was run at the school.

"The program has been cancelled and we regret that these materials were distributed to students," he said.

"The school will work closely with the department to investigate the matter and make sure this can't happen again."

An Education Department spokesman said the materials were "completely inappropriate and in breach of department policy" and "totally out of step with department approaches to sexuality and relationships education".( And you're going to do what.....?)

The program is being offered at other public schools in the state.( WHAT!)

Deputy convenor of Australian Women's Health Network, Dr Gwendolyn Gray Jamieson, called the literature "rubbish", and condemned the program for teaching girls "they had to be chaste, virginal and that they were responsible for what happens in a relationship".

"It is inherently unfair and sexist," she said.

posted by Timna.jacks@fairfaxmedia.com.au