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Poll: More teens sexually active in Guangzhou

By Zhan Lisheng (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-01 10:10

GUANGZHOU: Nearly 20 percent of polytechnic students in Guangzhou have had a sexual experience, according to a recent survey.

The poll conducted by Guangzhou Youth League School found that about 17 percent of the polytechnic students in Guangzhou, aged 15 to 18, have had a sexual experience, and 8 percent of those females have been pregnant at least once.

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The survey polled 500 students in three polytechnic schools in downtown Guangzhou.

"Polytechnic students don't need to prepare for the cut-throat college entrance examination as other high school students do. I think the ratio of the students who have a sexual experience in polytechnics must be higher than other high schools," said Zuo Bin, a teacher with Guangzhou Youth League School and also the organizer of the survey, in an interview with China Daily on Friday.

The students who have sexual experiences are mostly those whose parents are divorced or too busy to take good care of their children, he said.

A large number of female students have sex to show their affection for their boyfriends and most of them do not use any contraception, which leads to a high rate of pregnancy among the female students who have had sexual experiences.

Zuo's viewpoint is advocated by many obstetric doctors in Guangzhou. "Our hospital always sees a surge of teenagers who come to have an abortion every summer vacation," said Song Luyin, an obstetric doctor with Guangdong Women and Children's Hospital.

"Some of them have come again and again for abortions, although we have warned them of the necessity to take contraceptive measures," she said. "I'm afraid their health will be harmed and their fertility influenced sooner or later."

According to Yu Zao, an obstetric doctor with another hospital in Guangzhou, doctors in her department handle an average of one or two abortions per day for teenagers.

The number of teenagers who have abortions probably exceeds 500 during the summer holiday, Yu said. An official figure is not available.

"I don't think many of our schoolmates have a sexual experience, although not a few of them are in love," a student with the high school affiliated to South China Normal University, who preferred not to be identified, told China Daily on Friday.

Sex morality and sex responsibility should be included in adolescent sex education, in addition to physiological education and healthcare, said Tu Minxia, a professor with Guangzhou-based Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macao Youth Research Institute.