Boys as young as nine have been playing a tag game they call "the raping game" at a Brighton school, forcing the headmistress to intervene to ban the use of the name.
The Brighton Argus reported that around a dozen boys in Year 5, nine and ten-year-olds, have been playing the game at Stanford Junior School in Brighton, for the last fortnight, with seemingly no idea what the word means.
The newspaper said it is believed to have come about around a fortnight ago, after one of the boys played a violent video game where characters are raped.
Headteacher Gina Hutchins told the paper: “As soon as we found out that this inappropriate word was being used, we spoke to the children concerned and they now no longer use it.”
SWNS reported that boys have been encouraged to use "the survival game" instead.
One parent told the Argus she did not blame the school, but was horrified at what her son had picked up from other pupils. She said: “I was horrified that my son had learnt that word.
“He is only nine. Thankfully he did not know what it meant but it was that horrible thought he might use it elsewhere.
“Most people assume children learn these words at home.”
She said she was pleased the head had taken such swift action.
SWNS said no particular game had been identified, but said many on the market portray scenes of rape, including one Japanese game called RapeLay sees the main character try to rape a mother and two daughters. It has been banned in many countries across Asia and in Australia.