Teenage sex, pregnancies show education loopholes in China

• Source: Global Times
• [02:35 September 22 2009]
• Comments

However, experts suggest otherwise.

"Sex education is not fully in place in China and many teenagers are shielded from any form of sex education, which fuels their curiosity," Zhang said.

In the United States, sex education and teenage pregnancy are also controversial topics, centered round differing religious, political and social views.

In China, the situation is quite different.

Although school curriculum includes information about sexual characteristics, in practice some teachers prefer to skip that part. Parents are too often embarrassed to talk to their kids about the topic.

Calls to several middle school students in Beijing by the Global Times questioning about sex education at school were nipped off halfway, indicating discussions on such a topic are still a taboo among many middle school students.

A senior middle school student who refused to identify himself told the Global Times yesterday that his teacher skipped the pages on sex education and asked them to read it at home.

"It's common for fast-growing teenagers to show affection to peers of the opposite sex or be curious about sexual experiences," Zhang said.

"The best way to prevent teenage pregnancy and sexual experiences is not hiding information from them but educating them about the secret of human bodies either through textbooks or psychological counseling," he added.