Lessons in life

With more sex shops opening in streets and shopping malls across China, the unwillingness of Chinese schools and colleges to delve deeper into sex education appears conflicting.

Professor Chen said he believes teaching sex in the classroom is as much a taboo as it was when he started his course in 1995.

At the time, many questioned why he was willing to risk his reputation by leading such a "vile course". Even as he was compiling a book on his practices a decade later, Chen's editor suggested its diagrams be printed only in black and white.

Zhang Yumei, a retired teacher of sex education at the experimental school affiliated with Capital Normal University, recalled that her colleagues used to accuse her of giving children "the wrong idea", while parents of students claimed the textbooks she provided contained "antisocial" content.

"When I taught on the use of condoms, some teachers said it was improper as they themselves had never been taught about that," she said.

China's education system mainly evaluates the abilities of students through examinations. However, there is no test for sexual knowledge. This has, in part, created an information vacuum, with older generations unable to pass on education to youngsters.

"Teachers and parents do not know how to teach (about sex)," said Liu Liqing at Marie Stopes International, an NGO that provides sexual and reproductive healthcare.

Despite improvements brought about by a greater public awareness of HIV and AIDS in recent years, she said sex education is still not sufficient - or even available - in most schools, with the situation most acute in rural and underdeveloped areas.

In impoverished regions, many leave home for large cities after graduating junior high, "so their knowledge on sex lags behind", said Liu. "As they migrate, their unhealthy condition could threaten the wider population."

She also argues that the central government's policy of blocking online access to all pornographic content (porn is illegal and is subject to constant crackdowns) is not the most effective way to prevent children from committing sex-related crimes, as many have suggested.

"Equipping them with the proper knowledge would be far more useful," she added.

Li Jinyan, mother of a 12-year-old boy at No 3 Primary School, burst out laughing when she was asked whether she has educated his son about the facts of life. "Why should I?" asked the 40-year-old housewife. "They will be taught about it in biology classes when they enter high school."

Xiong Baohua, who also has a son in sixth grade at the school, said her child, who has just started puberty, is simply too busy to be distracted. "I hardly talk to him about anything except his studies. He has lots of homework to do and extra classes to attend during weekends," she said, before confessing she feels "shy about the prospect of discussing sex".

Even professor Chen admitted he never taught his two daughters about the birds and the bees.

"There were plenty of books at home and they were free to read them," he said, although he did discourage open discussion about sex in his classes. "It could have led to some improper and awkward situations."

Wang Xuejing, a mother of twin daughters aged 11, does not have the same reservations, however. She told her daughters about reproduction when they were in kindergarten.

"I'm ready to teach them about safe sex when they get to high school. You can't simply avoid talking about sex when there are so many teenage pregnancies," she added.

Reality frights

Despite the reservations of parents, teen magazine columnist Jin Xuan said she believes children are more than willing to learn.

As an agony aunt for Intimate Sister, she receives hundreds of letters every month from girls and boys aged 12 to 14 about various questions relating to sex. Many are confused about their changing bodies, others are worried about sex dreams and some ask about homosexuality.

"Some have told me they like to

be friends with the same sex more than the opposite sex, and are worried it is a sign of being gay," said the columnist. "That's a result of unguided self-learning."

For Jin, the information available about sex and sexual health is not too little, but too much. She warned: "Young children who lack good judgment could be misled."

Children need to understand about their bodies and the differences between gender before they enter primary school, as well as a wholesome understanding of sex before leaving junior high at about 15, suggests Jin.

An official survey of 2,500 students at 31 high schools in Beijing last March showed almost 0.5 percent in junior high and 2.29 percent in senior high have had sex.

The reality is that "teenage girls are getting pregnant and high school girls are having abortions", said Peng Yuhua, deputy director of the capital's commission of population and family planning. Work is under way for guidelines on sex education at Beijing's primary and high schools.

"(Lessons) should not just focus on sex, though," said Zhang Meimei at the Sexual Health Education Institute, who is helping draft the guidelines. "The purpose of education should be to help boys and girls grow up into wholesome men and women with the abilities to deal with relationships and marriages."

At Beijing's No 171 High School, a top institution, sex education teacher Sun Dongjun explained her classes are already focused largely on relationships.

"I think sex should be mentioned (in class), but it depends on the school's situation," she said. "As most of our students study hard and are well behaved, it may not be necessary to go into too much detail."