90% Chinese parents support sex education

BEIJING - Over Ninety percent of parents support educating minors about sex, and incorporating it into school education, the Beijing News, reported on Monday, citing a survey.

The survey was jointly conducted by the newspaper and an NGO, the Maple Women's Psychological Counseling Center.

It came after a series of molestation scandals against children, and was designed to learn about the prevalence of children's sex education. The questionnaire was completed in written form by 107 children aged between 6 and 14, and more than 1,100 parents via the Internet.

The results showed children received little such education either from schools or from parents, and also they have weak awareness or capability to cope with such sexual offenses.

Only 8.3 percent of parents know for sure their kids have sex education classes at school, while 43.5 percent of parents said there are no such classes at their kids' schools.

Though 68.4 percent of parents said they had taught their kids sex-related knowledge, merely 18.6 percent ever told their children how to ask for help or escape when victimized.

Meanwhile, 38 percent of children professed ignorance about protecting their bodies, and only 37.9 percent of parents have educated their youngsters about private parts which no one else can touch.

Over the last 20-odd days, nine sexual molestation cases have been reported in the media. The majority of the suspects are teachers or school principals. Among them, a primary school teacher in Central China's Henan province and a teacher in South China's Guangdong province have been detained on suspicion of sexually abusing female students.

In another case, an unemployed man and a 12-year-old dropout were detained in North China's Hebei province for allegedly molesting or raping six girls in a school dormitory.