In defense of sex education in schools

Sex education, especially sex education for primary school students, may come as a shock to many older Chinese who grew up in different times.

But, whether we like it or not, recent years have seen a dramatic increase in premarital sex, and unwanted pregnancies and abortions among young girls. And precisely for that reason sex education classes, complete with graphic drawings of sexual organs, will be introduced to a primary school in Beijing from this session on an experimental basis.

It is imperative that steps be taken to reduce the consequences of sexual activities among youngsters without proper knowledge. Medical clinics in China perform an estimated 13 million abortions a year. The actual number may be higher if we consider abortions performed in unregistered medical clinics and the fact that about 10 million abortion-inducing pills are sold every year.