ChinAfrica Aug Cover 16-17

中国与非洲 八月版 封面故事 16-17页

Figure                       15.9 years

数字                         15.9岁

Average age of Chinese adolescents having sex for the first time

中国青少年首次性行为平均年龄

By Yu Nan 记者 于楠

“What comes to your mind immediately when we talk about sex?”

“当我们讲到‘性’的时候,大家的脑海里首先想到什么?”

In a sex education class for primary school students’ parents in Dujiangyan, southwest China's Sichuan Province, teacher Du Li asks a question and triggers an animated discussion on puberty sex education.

四川省都江堰的一所小学里,杜丽老师正在给家长们上性教育课。简单的问题却引起了家长们关于青春期性教育的热烈讨论。

“My son asked, why is it that daddy and I can stand up to pee, but you have to squat?” an embarrassed mother narrates her unintentionally funny story as an example of explaining sex to her son. “My husband didn’t know how to reply, mumbling, ‘That’s the way the government has ordered it.’”

“为什么我和爸爸站着尿尿，你要蹲着呢？”这是一位妈妈讲述的发生在自己孩子身上的小故事。面对孩子此类关于“性”方面的问题，妈妈却不免尴尬，不知该如何回答。“孩子爸爸左右为难，只好含糊地说，‘这是国家规定的！”

Explaining body and sex

如何描述身体与性

How to answer questions frequently asked by one’s children such as “Where do I come from?” Many parents avoid giving a direct answer due to the conservative Chinese attitude toward sex.

许多家长都会面对孩子们就“性”的提问，比如：“我从哪里来？”但中国人对性一贯持保守的态度，许多传统的家长会选择含糊其辞甚至回避。

It is widely acknowledged that sex education is inadequate in Chinese schools. This has some serious effects on youngsters, resulting in teenage pregnancy, premarital abortion, sexual harassment and AIDS infection. The situation calls for greater awareness, particularly in parents, of the importance of adequate sex education.

众所周知，中国的学校性教育尚未完善。对于青少年来讲，性教育的缺乏会产生很多问题，如少女怀孕、婚前堕胎、性骚扰以及艾滋病感染。要解决这些问题，需要让更多家长们意识到适度性教育的重要性。

“If we teach them about their bodies and sex properly, they will learn how to protect themselves from harm,” said Zeng Yan, the father of a six-year-old.

“如果我们能够教给他们正确的关于身体和性的知识，他们就会知道如何保护自己不受伤害。”六岁孩子的父亲曾岩说道。

Zhang Yinjun has been making efforts to promote scientific sex education.

中国青少年艾滋病防治教育工程办公室主任张银俊一直致力于推广科学的性教育。

“Apart from biological knowledge, the sex education [we give] includes psychological and moral knowledge and sexual responsibility. That’s an important part we are trying to teach young people,” said Zhang, co-founder of the AIDS Prevention Education Project for Chinese Youth (APEPCY).

“除了生理方面的知识,我们所做的性教育还包括心理及道德方面的内容,以及对于性行为责任感的培养。这些对孩子们来讲尤为重要。”“青爱工程”创始人张银俊说道。

APEPCY, founded in 2006, provides sex education and AIDS prevention curriculums with an age-appropriate approach by working with local schools across the country. A successful example is Du Li’s lectures for parents at the Dingxin Xin Jian Primary School in Dujiangyan.

青爱工程2006年正式启动。它通过与全国各地学校合作，根据学生的年龄特点，为孩子们提供性教育和防艾课程。都江堰顶新新建小学杜丽老师的性教育家长课堂就是典型的成功案例。

Gou Ping, a professor at Chengdu University in southwest China, wants to make sure that her students cultivate a sense of responsibility where love and sex is concerned.

成都大学的心理学教授苟萍希望培养学生对于“爱和性”的责任感。

“What we teach students is the principle of ‘love and responsibility'. We aim to make students aware that any decision they make while under the rosy influence of love will definitely affect their future for good or for bad. Sex should be seen as a serious activity with lifelong consequences,” said Gou, who is also deputy director of APEPCY’s adolescent sex education base in southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

“我们教给学生的原则是‘爱要与责任同行’。让他们明白，在爱情雨露的滋润下，他们所做的任何一个决定都会或积极或消极的影响到他们的未来道路。‘性’应被看作是影响人终生的行为，因此我们要严肃的对待它。”苟萍老师说道。除了在成都大学任教外，她还担任青爱工程四川基地副主任的职务。

Gou added that the most popular elective in Chengdu University is sex education. The course is so much in demand that all the seats are taken within minutes.

苟老师还补充道：成都大学最受欢迎的选修课就是性教育课。每个学期伊始，选课系统仅开通几分钟，性教育选修课座位就全部被抢光了。

The university is the second college in the country offering an academic minor in sex education. Beijing-based Capital Normal University is the first to offer such a course.

成都大学也是继首都师范大学之后全国第二所提供性教育辅修专业的大学。

Protecting the future

保护我们的未来

The popularity of the sex education lessons shows that young people want better sex knowledge. Lack of sex education creates many problems.

性教育课的受欢迎程度直接反映了年轻人对于性知识的渴求。性教育的缺乏会导致很多问题产生。

A report released by the National Health and Family Planning Commission in 2015 says the average age of Chinese adolescents having sex for the first time is 15.9 years. As a result, unwanted and teenage pregnancies are on the rise, most of which end in abortion. About 13 million abortions are performed in China every year. The prevailing lack of sex knowledge could partly explain the high pregnancy and abortion rate among youngsters.

国家计生委有报告指出，2015年，中国青少年首次性行为的平均年龄为15.9岁，这导致的结果就是有越来越多的少女意外怀孕，而她们中的大多数都选择了堕胎。 中国每年大约有1300万例堕胎，性知识的缺乏是导致青少年意外怀孕及流产率高的部分原因。

Although there is greater open-mindedness about sexual rights, particularly among youths, a survey, conducted by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention last year found that more than half of the Chinese college students who were interviewed had no idea how to use a condom correctly.

尽管人们，尤其是年轻人对于性权利的态度越来越开放，国家疾控中心的一项调查还是发现有超过半数的受访中国高校学生不了解怎样正确使用避孕套。

This puts young people at risk of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS, according to Zhang Jianxin, a professor with the West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University.

这让年轻人再次陷入感染包括艾滋病在内的性传播疾病的危险，四川大学公共卫生学院的张建新教授如是说。

Therefore, educating adolescents in the use of contraceptives is also an important component to consider while implementing a comprehensive sex education program.

因此，教会青少年如何采取避孕措施也是贯彻性教育的一个重要方面。

Experts believe primary school years are the best time for children to learn about sex. “Everyone needs ongoing and age-appropriate sex education to help them develop positive attitudes about sex knowledge,” said Gou, adding that primary schools should be encouraged to provide adequate sex education rather than be criticized for such efforts.

专家称小学阶段是孩子们接受性教育的黄金时期。苟萍老师指出，“每个孩子都应该接受适合自己年龄的性教育，并培养他们对性的正确态度，而且这个过程应该是持续的。”她还补充道，努力开展性教育的学校应当得到赞扬和鼓励而非受到非议。

But some parents think their children are too young to learn about sex in primary school. The lack of standardized and authoritative teaching materials across the country has aggravated the situation.

但一些家长还是觉得他们的孩子在小学就接受性教育有些太早了。国家缺乏标准权威的性教育教材也使得这一问题更为严重。

A few years ago, a set of pilot textbooks for school sex education in Beijing sparked a controversy because of the explicit description of intercourse and the accompanying graphic illustrations.

几年以前，北京试行的一系列性教育教科书引起了很大争议，争议焦点围绕着书中对于性交明确的描述及配图。

The books were trying to teach children about sex and how to avoid sexual abuse but some parents said the content was too graphic and not suitable for pupils.

这些书籍让孩子了解了性知识以及如何避免性侵害，但是家长却认为这些图像太过于生动露骨，对小学生不太适合。

Du Li thinks sex education should start naturally at home. “As educators, we need to educate children through their families first. In this way, we can ensure that the moral guidance that should go with sex education is cohesive and reinforces traditional sexual norms,” Du said.

杜丽老师认为性教育应该首先在家庭里自然而然的开始，“作为教育工作者，我们应该首先通过家庭达到教育孩子的目的。这样就能够确保道德教育为性教育护航，并巩固中国传统性规范。”

“There are a lot of misunderstandings about our teaching,” said Gou. “Our task is to provide students guidance instead of condoning or encouraging adolescent sexual behavior.”

苟萍老师还指出，“对于我们的教学，人们有许多误解。我们的使命是正确引导学生，而非宽恕和鼓励青少年性行为。”

Observers say compared to China’s older generations, teenagers in the 21st century have more access to sexual knowledge.

专家指出，比起老辈的中国人，21世纪的青少年有更多接触性知识的途径。

“The awareness of gender and sexuality has increased to some extent, but it is still not enough,” Zhang Yinjun said.

“人们对于性别和性行为方面的认识在某种程度上来讲的确增强了，但还是不够。”张银俊说道。

According to her, to make sex education for adolescents more effective, it has to be integrated into the education system through concerted efforts and understanding by society.

她认为，还需要社会的一致努力和理解，把性教育与现有教育体制结合起来，才会使得青少年性教育更加有效。