打破多年来的沉默——中国日益重视青少年性教育

Wu Shuang, a 24-year-old college student, recalls the day when she asked her parents to explain how she was born.

24岁的大学生吴爽（音）回忆起她问父母自己是怎么生出来时的情景。

"My parents told me I was picked up in a bathroom," she said.

她说：“爸妈告诉我，我是在厕所里捡来的。”

It might sound peculiar, but Wu’s is not an uncommon answer when it comes to the descriptions Chinese children hear around matters of sexual education.

这听起来可能很古怪，但谈到中国孩子在性教育问题上听到的说法，吴爽得到的回答并不罕见。

Apart from a few experimental lessons launched in a handful of schools in China’s larger cities, most schools haven’t introduced formal sex education courses, leaving nearly 22% of youths under the age of 19 mostly in the dark.

除了大城市的少数学校推出的一些试验性课堂之外，中国大多数学校还没有开设正式的性教育课程，使得近22%的19岁以下青少年对性一无所知。

But that situation is about to change.

但这种情况即将改变。

In March, the first batch of sex educators for middle-school children in China was certified by the national government.

今年3月，中国首批面向中小学生的性教育工作者获得了国家颁发的证书。

The training courses provide a variety of content, including information tailored for both children and adults, online videos for family education, and summer and winter campaigns for adolescents.

培训课程提供了各种内容，包括为儿童和成人提供的定制信息、家庭教育网络视频以及青少年夏冬令营。

Among the topics covered are matters such as sexual consent, common questions about sexual intercourse and debates around real cases involving sexually transmitted diseases and prostitution.

课程所涵盖的话题包括性同意、关于性行为的常见问题以及围绕性传播疾病和卖淫等真实案例的讨论等。

But the courses also aim to highlight issues of human rights and sexuality, said Fang Gang, the program initiator and associate professor of psychology at Beijing Forestry University.

该项目的发起人、北京林业大学心理学副教授方刚（音）说，该课程也旨在突出人权和性的问题。

Fang described the training courses as "empowerment sexuality education," as they teach adolescents how to have sex safely and responsibly.

方刚将这些培训课程称为“性能力教育”，因为他们教青少年如何安全负责地进行性行为。

Until recently, there had been very little, if any, sex education for young people in China, apart from the basics on sexual reproduction learned in biology textbooks.

直到不久之前，除了在生物课本上学到的关于有性繁殖的基础知识之外，中国年轻人获得的性教育非常少。

The lack of information on issues around sex has left many Chinese teenagers dangerously in the dark.

性知识的匮乏使许多中国青少年处于十分危险的无知状态中。

For example, young people are a growing concern for HIV rates in the country; although national rates are very low -- under 0.1% -- an estimated 14.7% of new infections in 2015 were among people 15 to 24. The year-on-year growth rate of new HIV infections among young people is around 35%.

例如，年轻人成为中国艾滋病病毒感染的一个重灾区；虽然全国的感染率很低——低于0.1%——但2015年新增感染病例中有大约14.7%处于15至24岁的年龄段。年轻人中新增艾滋病病毒感染病例的年增速在35%左右。

For Ke Xi, a 20-year-old student at Hebei University in Hebei Province, central China, the lack of sex education made it more difficult to understand herself and how to carry herself. She described feeling anxious about mainstream societal norms around women and sex and whether she should have to confirm to them.

中国河北的20岁学生柯西（音）认为，性教育的匮乏让人们更难以认知自己，也不知道该何去何从。她说，关于女性和性的主流社会规范令她感到紧张，不知道是否应该遵循这些规范。

"Chinese men view ignorance as cuteness when it comes to being a woman," she said. "Some girls around me don’t even know the process of intercourse, and they listen to their boyfriends. But their boyfriends learn from Japanese porn."

她说：“中国男人觉得女人无知是一种可爱。我身边的一些女孩甚至不知道性行为的过程，她们全听男朋友的话。但是他们的男朋友却可以从日本色情片中去学习。”

Other women want to ensure that their daughters don’t lack the sexual education they themselves missed out on and know how to protect themselves.

还有些女性希望确保她们的女儿不再缺少她们自己却缺失的性教育，知道该如何保护自己。

Wang Bing, a 36-year-old employee in a Chinese state-owned enterprise, said that when she was young, she was taught nothing by the older generation, who preferred to ignore the topic.

中国一家国企的36岁员工王冰（音）说，她年轻的时候，家里人从没教过她任何性知识，而是选择忽视这个话题。

"Just like the saying, women begin to know their biological structure through her husband, after getting married," she said.

她说：“就像老话说的那样，女人婚后通过丈夫才开始了解自己的生理结构。”

With two daughters at home, Bing passes on her limited sexual knowledge and buys books with cartoon pictures for her oldest, now 10.

王冰向两个女儿传授了自己有限的性知识，还给现在10岁的大女儿买了一些带有卡通图画的性知识书籍。

"It’s necessary to know something. At least you know how to protect yourself when danger comes to you," Wang said.

她说：“学点儿东西是有必要的，至少在遇到危险的时候知道该如何保护自己。”