The English tabloids have their knickers in a twist about a school which showed an R18 video game as part of a lesson on violence. The Daily Mail moaned that the notorious Grand Theft Auto video game was being used to teach pupils about violence.

Children as young as nine are being shown excerpts from the 18-rated series in which players can beat prostitutes with baseball bats. The sessions are supposed to help youngsters understand the consequences of gun and knife crime. The newspaper quotes “critics of the scheme say the graphic content of the game makes it too dangerous to show to young children”.

The scheme however has the backing of coppers and Merseyside's Support After Murder and Manslaughter group. Under the scheme, police officers and bereaved mothers from SAMM visit the primary schools to discuss differences between fictional and real-life violence. The kids are shown still images from Grand Theft Auto, Bugs Bunny and the Itchy And Scratchy Show - the violent satirical cartoon from The Simpsons. They also see the cartoons alongside real-life images of drunks, knives, syringes and parents arguing. It alls sounds really intelligent and a good way to get kids to think to us.

However Margaret Morrissey, of the family group Parents Outloud, said it was 'entirely inappropriate' to show the footage in primary schools. She said: "It's dreadful. It's heartbreaking for those parents who have been particularly conscious not to allow their children to see these things and are trying to protect them until they are old enough to cope."

After all children need to be wrapped in bubble wrap to prevent them from being harmed by the real world until they are at least 43. They should also have their eyes and ears gouged out so they never have to hear a naughty word.