A 15-year-old girl and her boyfriend are studying alone together on a hot summer day when she removes her jacket and clings to his shoulder. What should he do?

In Hong Kong, the authorities advise the young man to continue studying or to seek a diversion, including badminton, to avoid premarital sex and other “intimate behaviours”.

Critics, including lawmakers and sex educators, say that the Chinese territory’s new sex education materials are regressive. But top officials are not backing down, and the standoff is getting kind of awkward.

“Is badminton the Hong Kong answer to sexual impulses in schoolchildren?” the South China Morning Post newspaper asked.

Hong Kong teenagers find it all pretty amusing. A few said on social media that the officials behind the policy have their “heads in the clouds”. Others have worked it into sexual slang, talking about “friends with badminton” instead of “friends with benefits”.

The sex-ed materials were published last week by the Education Bureau in a 70-page document that includes worksheets for adolescents and guidance for their teachers. The document emphasises that the lessons are not designed to encourage students to “start dating or having sexual behaviours early in life”. It also advises people in a “love relationship” to fill out a form setting the limits of their intimacy.

It also recommends exercise and other activities that “draw attention away from undesirable activities”, and warns students to dress appropriately and avoid wearing “sexy clothing” that could lead to “visual stimulation.”

Critics are wary, saying that the guidelines are irresponsible. Diana Kwok, professor of gender studies at the Education University of Hong Kong, told the South China Morning Post that the authorities should not emphasise the need to control sexual development, but instead teach young people how to face or understand it.

Officials aren’t flinching. Christine Choi, the education secretary, framed the guidance on Sunday as a kind of moral imperative and a way of protecting young people, particularly those who are 12 to 14.

New York Times News Service