2016年CRI Sex education in China calls for more parental efforts

 

Sex related topics are not taboo¹ in China anymore, however, many Chinese parents are still facing dilemmas² when it comes to sex education at home.

In a sex education class for primary school parents in Dujiangyan, southwest China's Sichuan province, a mother is sharing her embarrassing yet funny story of talking to her son about sex.

"My son always ask me 'where do I come from', I just tell him he spent 10 months in my belly³ before the doctor picked him out, and he will ask, 'How did I get into your belly? Did you swallow me?' I had to tell him his father put him inside. Then his question continues, 'Where did my father find me and how he put me in your body?' I just don't know how to explain that to him. Other questions may be like "Why daddy and I can pee standing⁴ up, but you have to pee squatting⁵? " And my husband would say, 'Oh my boy, it's just a national regulation.'"

In answering one of the most common questions children may have before puberty, many Chinese parents still shy away from facing it due to a self-restrained traditional cultural background.

Dr. Chen Zhongdan, strategic information adviser⁶ of UNAIDS says parents play a vital role in promoting sexual health education here in China, as well as building a more tolerant, equal and open society.

"Many parents avoid talking about sex with their children, and this is deeply rooted in the country's traditional culture. Mostly, their sexual concept is binary⁷ instead of polybasic, also the traditional idea of 'one should carry on the family line' leads to a relatively⁸ low acceptance of homosexuality. Homosexuals are facing higher pressure from family and society, and many of them lack the scientific knowledge of safe sex. Therefore, sex education is crucial here."

Latest statistics suggest that among all the new infections of HIV/AIDS, 94% are caused by sexual transmission. Heterosexuals accounts for some 67% of these cases while homosexual 27% and the proportion is growing in large and medium-sized cities.

Zhang Yinjun, the co-founder of the AIDS Prevention & Education Project for China's Youth or known as APEPCY for short, says scientific sex education should include all aspects of the subject.

"A proper sexual value includes sexual responsibility, gender⁹ consciousness, sex culture and scientific health. All these aspects contribute to protecting people from disease infection. Dealing¹⁰ with issues such as teenagers abortion¹¹, sexual abuse, and other emotion-related issues, is also part of our job."

Starting from 2006, APEPCY has been co-operating with local schools in providing AIDS prevention and sex education classes targeting different groups of people including students of different ages, parents and teachers. Zhang Yinjun says one of their successes is to have informed parents on the importance of scientific sex education, and more and more parents have already benefitted from it and have been providing their support to sex education.

Insiders say sex education in China is still at its earlier stage, but a brighter future can be guaranteed if more parents can participate with an attitude and scientific mindset as more active school education is underway.

1 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

2 dilemmas   

n.左右为难( dilemma的名词复数 )；窘境，困境

参考例句：

• They dealt with their dilemmas by mixing perhaps unintentionally an explosive brew. 他们――也许是无意地――把爆炸性的佐料混合在一起，以此来应付困难处境。 来自辞典例句
• Ten years later we encountered the same dilemmas in Vietnam. 十年后，我们又在越南遇到了同样进退两难的局面。 来自辞典例句

3 belly   

n.肚子，腹部；(像肚子一样)鼓起的部分，膛

参考例句：

• The boss has a large belly.老板大腹便便。
• His eyes are bigger than his belly.他眼馋肚饱。

4 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

5 squatting   

v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。

参考例句：

• They ended up squatting in the empty houses on Oxford Road. 他们落得在牛津路偷住空房的境地。
• They've been squatting in an apartment for the past two years. 他们过去两年来一直擅自占用一套公寓。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

7 binary   

adj.二，双；二进制的；n.双(体)；联星

参考例句：

• Computers operate using binary numbers.计算机运行运用二进位制。
• Let us try converting the number itself to binary.我们试一试，把这个数本身变成二进制数。

8 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

9 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。