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Teenagers Make Smart Sexual Choices with Pioneer Sexuality Education App

The Sexuality Education Mobile App “Making Smart Choices” (「決性時刻 ─ 性教育體驗學習遊戲」), a pioneer Chinese language interactive game co-developed by the Faculty of Education of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong (FPAHK) has been well received among students since it was rolled out in September this year.

“This game has rectified my previous misconceptions and negative attitudes towards sex. After playing it, I’ve learnt how to deal with these issues in case I encounter similar ones,” said a Form 2 girl who participated in the app’s trial run.

This app was designed to appeal to teenagers with the aim to equip them with reliable knowledge, positive attitudes and life skills necessary for making wise decisions regarding love and sexuality in a fun and interactive way, said Miss Grace Lee, FPAHK’s Education Manager.

The app consists of 5 mini-games offering 5 different scenarios where participants exact their decisions in their chosen virtual characters and learn in the process. The mini-games and their objectives are:

• “Love Q&A” (戀問‧戀答) - to gain better self-understanding for establishing a healthy love relationship;
• “Intimacy Photo” (照出親密線) - to learn to set and maintain intimate boundaries;
• “Escape from Impulse” (智性逃慾) - to understand about sexual impulse and considerations in deciding whether to have sex or not;
• “Like the Sex Knowledge” (識性讚一讚) - to acquire safer sex knowledge including contraceptives, emergency contraception and prevention of AIDS and sexually transmissible diseases, and awareness of self-protection;
• “Rank your Exit” (出路有排行) - to know the options and support services in case of unplanned pregnancies.

To evaluate the effectiveness and acceptance of the app among teenagers, a series of game sessions and workshops for nearly 900 First and Second Formers in 5 secondary schools have been conducted. Data and feedback were collected through questionnaires and focus group interviews and analyzed by HKU’s Faculty of Education.

Dr Samuel Chu, Associate Professor (Division of Information & Technology Studies) of HKU’s Faculty of Education said, research results showed that after playing the game, most of the students’ sex knowledge improved. Besides, students also have a perceived enhancement in other areas such as critical thinking, decision-making, communication skills and ability to seek help in relation to love and sexuality. They were mostly receptive to the app, describing the content as “interesting”, “fun to play”, “interactive”, “informative”, “real-to-life” and “applicable”.

“It shows that learning can be fun, interactive and personalized,” Dr Chu concluded.

Encouraging teenagers to download this app, Miss Lee said, “You can play along and share your choices and scores in the 5 abilities to make smart decisions with your friends. We hope you can equip yourselves well to deal with various kinds of scenarios with wise sexual decisions along your journey of life!”

This project was funded by the Health Care and Promotion Fund of the Food and Health Bureau. Three versions of the app are available for teenagers to play on iPad, internet (both versions requiring registration with a HKEdCity student account) and Facebook. Their links are as follows:

• Internet version (via HKEdCity account): http://proj.hkedcity.net
• iPad version (via HKEdCity account): https://itunes.apple.com/hk/app/id673857604?mt=8
• Facebook version：https://facebook.com/fpasmartchoices

An international version known as “Decision on Love and Sex” will soon be launched with a vision to reach out to teenagers in Mainland China, Macau, Taiwan, and all those who understand the Chinese language around the globe.