Young people in South China's Guangdong Province are increasingly open-minded about sex, but lack adequate sex education and guidance from teachers or parents.

According to the 2007 Guangdong Sex Report issued earlier this week, more than 90 percent of the 504 high-school students surveyed claimed they consulted peers or read books when they encountered problems or questions about sex.

Less than 4 percent of the 504 teenagers surveyed chose to discuss sexual matters with teachers or parents.

As many as 67 percent of them said they have never discussed sex with their parents.

At the same time, more than 60 percent said they wished their parents could be more open about sex, while about 40 percent said the current curriculum on sex seemed outdated.

As teachers and parents do not offer enough or proper sex education, about 70 percent of the students said they browsed pornographic books, movies or websites.

Even though more than 60 percent of high-school students still consider it important to remain a virgin until marriage, almost 40 percent said it is "unimportant" or had no opinion. This ratio is much higher than it used to be.

The outcome of a similar survey conducted among college students showed 30 percent of the 4,109 surveyed oppose cohabitation.

Even though the students have a more tolerant attitude towards cohabitation, only 5 percent of them are actually doing so.

Moreover, two-thirds of college students do not object to premarital sex, but 53.4 percent of male college students said they wouldn't marry their girlfriends if they were not virgins.

Such an attitude among college students showed that conservative thinking on virginity and the concept of male superiority remains deeply rooted in China, Sun Lei, a professor at Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences, said.

"An adequate awareness of sex is necessary for all people," Zhang Feng, the director of the Guangdong Sexology Association, said.

The educational authorities are striving to expand and improve sex education for young people.

The national annual sex festival will kick off in Guangzhou in November.

During the festival, a forum on sex will be held in Guangzhou No 4 Middle School, which will invite sex experts to talk about relevant issues with middle-school students.

"The forum will present in-depth knowledge about sex to students, not the common knowledge that is usually taught in classes," Zhu Jiaming, vice-director of the Guangdong Sexology Association, said.

This will be the country's first sex forum to be held in a middle school.

(China Daily August 25, 2007)