|
Encouraging pre-marital sex?
(Bjtoday)
Updated: 2004-03-22 09:31 If boys and girls are too shy to share with
parents or elders their problems or confusion about sex, they might be able to
get the kind of help they need from a new consulting center in Shenyang,
Liaoning Province.
The first of its kind in Northeast China, the center is sponsored by Shenyang
Family Planning Committee. “We just want to help youngsters get adequate sex
knowledge or take precautions in their sexual behavior,” Huang Juxiang, a doctor
at the center told Beijing Today. “Young people can either seek help from our
hotline or get outpatient services for knowledge about reproductive health.”
The center can also help young girls conduct abortions and if they have
suffered rape, the center can even help restore the victim’s hymen. Charges for
this kind of service are lower than in hospitals, according to Huang.
However, since its opening at the end of February, the center has not been
as popular as expected. Controversy has arisen over whether local governments
should help female youngsters have abortions. There are also questions as to the
efficacy of the center in providing sex education. Opinions follow:
Mr. Geng, a middle school teacher in Shenyang
I think the help this center offers might encourage pre-marital sexual
behavior. Even though young girls are not adults, they still need to learn to
take responsibility for their behavior. By offering to relieve the possible
pressures and dangers of sex, the help that the center intends to offer can only
result in more freedom of sexual behavior among young people.
Moreover, most young girls prefer private medical institutions to conduct
abortions for the sake of privacy. So even if the center charges less than that
of other medical institutions, I don’t think pregnant females will visit the
center because it’s still an official organization.
Huang Juxiang, doctor at the Shenyang Sex Consulting Center
Since the opening of our center in late February, there have not been many
young visitors. The questions asked by most youngsters are focused on two areas,
one being various reproductive health problems facing them, like masturbation,
seminal emissions, menstruation and pregnancy. The other is psychological
problems during puberty.
In my opinion, I think the founding of the center is necessary for teaching
young people, especially young girls, how to protect themselves considering the
increase of pre-marital sexual behavior and early pregnancy. We will mainly
target young people to equip them with basic contraception methods and
reproduction knowledge.
Tian Yanchun, a free-lancer from Hubei
It’s humanitarian behavior for the local government to offer sex education to
youngsters and help them conduct abortions when they have unexpected
pregnancies. But the service of restoring the hymen is really ridiculous, as it
reflects an outworn concept of virginity.
There is no direct connection between the innocence of a female and whether
her hymen is still in place. Strenuous exercise can cause the breaking of the
hymen. And more and more people nowadays don’t care or have more understanding
about the pre-marital sexual behavior of their partners. So the fact that
Shenyang Family Planning Committee offers this service wll only confirm outdated
ideas about virginity.
Ms. Wang, mother of a high school student from Shenyang
I’m only afraid that our children will be more eager to experience
pre-marital sexual behavior if the center can ofer this kind of service like
teaching them about contraception, helping conduct abortions and even handing
out free condoms.
Zhang Sining, researcher at the Academy of Social Sciences of Liaoning
Province
People should not make a fuss as to the emergence of young lovers. With the
improvement of people’s living standards, an increasing number of young people
are physically or sexually well developed, while sex education for juveniles
till lags behind. So we cannot totally blame youngsters even if they have made
mistakes. Most parents or teachers just avoid talking about the sex education
problems of young people, but actually the enlightenment of sexual knowledge is
much more important than teaching our children skills of daily life.
Liu Li, vice director of the Shenyang Sex Consulting
Center
Since the pregnancy of young girls has become a new social problem, we should
face up to it. Instead of seeking help from parents or teachers, some young
girls who become pregnant have to visit illegal medical institutions to conduct
abortions which can sometimes lead to sterility. So we would rather educate and
help these youngsters to learn self-protection and regain confidence than allow
the existence of single mothers. It’s much more useful to help young girls
prevent pregnancy by offering adequate and accurate sex education than to only
help them compensate for their mistakes.
Sun Geng, a magazine editor in Shenyang
Those young girls who have suffered from unexpected pregnancy are like lambs
losing their way who badly need humane care from the government. And the role of
the government should be like a guard keeping watch at night. Without the guard,
young girls will be totally in despair.
Though the government can take precautions, there will always be certain
number of drug addicts, pimps and prostitutes, as well as unexpected pregnancies
in a society. Therefore, the government should try to minimize these problems
and take precautions.
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
Today's
Top News |
|
|
|
Top Life
News |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
