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Playground passion on the increase in Chinese schools

Sex before marriage may no longer be taboo in conservative China, but health officials are worried that a growing number of high school students in Shanghai could be getting too frisky, state media reported yesterday.

Following a study of 25 high schools over the past two years, health officials discovered that nearly one-third of high school students had a partner, and had engaged in either hugging, kissing, or petting, Xinhua news reported.

Three percent of those surveyed said they had already had sex, the report said.

While this is the first study of its kind in this age group, local educators were concerned that the data suggested dating and sexual activity among students was on the rise in China's most modern city, as sexual education struggles to keep pace with the new society.

"With the social development and easier availability of information on love and romance, more students engage in love affairs nowadays," said Fang Xiuhong, an official from Shanghai Shixi Middle School.

One hundred students participated in the survey intended to test their knowledge of reproductive health, sexually transmitted diseases and their conceptions of love and sex, said Shen Lixiao, a doctor at the Shanghai Xinhua Hospital, which organized the study.

"We conduct the survey before and after AIDS education to evaluate the effect of the teaching," Shen said.

"Most students can grasp the basic knowledge about AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases and establish a proper attitude toward people infected with diseases," she added.

With the rapid advent and growth of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases in China, health officials have stepped up sex-education classes for students in the country's biggest cities.

Shanghai and the capital Beijing are planning on offering classes on the birds and the bees and how's your father to middle school girls aged 12 and above, while the southwestern city of Chongqing plans to provide classes to primary school students, earlier press reports said.
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