[英语阅读]上海首家“性教育夏令营”遇冷

Shanghai kids' sex-ed camp fails to excite: report

上海第一家“性教育夏令营”本周正式亮相，营员大多年龄介于8岁到13岁不等。但这次夏令营只有6名男孩参加，缺少了“女孩团”。这家民间组织的夏令营为期三天，向每个营员收取人民币2，880元。教育和卫生专家提醒，由于家长们“羞于”与子女谈性，中国亟需关注未婚男女青年的性教育问题。据媒体报道称，中国每年有1，300余万人到各类诊所进行堕胎手术。

Children cool off playing at a water fountain in the plaza of a shopping mall in China in July. Shanghai's first sex-education camp for children aged eight to 13 began this week, but only six boys enrolled and the girls' section was cancelled, state media reported Thursday.

Shanghai's first sex-education camp for children aged eight to 13 began this week, but only six boys enrolled and the girls' section was cancelled, state media reported Thursday.

The privately-run three-day 2,880-yuan (420-dollar) camp opened Wednesday to coincide with the start of school summer holidays and emulates a similar programme that is popular in eastern Nanjing, the Shanghai Daily reported.

"We are going to have a really private talk which cannot be shared with girls or strangers," the newspaper quoted Gao Weiwei, a young teacher as telling the six boys aged between nine and 13 in her opening remarks.

Chinese health and education experts have warned the country has to shift its sex education strategy from focusing on teaching married couples birth control.

They argue that the unmarried young also need to be targeted because parents are too reluctant to teach their children about sex.

With more than 13 million abortions at registered clinics every year, China needs to step up sex education to better inform youth on contraception, state media reported last month.

A recent survey at a Shanghai hospital found that less than 30 percent of callers to a health hotline knew how to avoid pregnancy, while only 17 percent were aware of venereal disease, state media reported in July.

But the Shanghai summer camp aims to answer the basic question: "Where Did I Come From?", the report said

"It's an information-explosion age and there is much misleading information on the Internet," said Tina Miao, whose 10-year-old son is enrolled in the camp.

"It's better for kids to be instructed by professionals," said Miao, a lawyer who plans to soon send her son to a British school and is concerned students there are more mature than Chinese students.