September 26th is World Contraception Day. A survey from China's health authority says many college students in the country had their first sexual experiences as teenagers, but some didn't use any protection at all. It's prompted the government to call for better awareness among youngsters.
Chinese getting their first taste of romance...
A survey by the government's family planning body found that among college students who have had sex, nearly half were aged between 11 and 18.
And in 10 percent of all cases, experimentation led to pregnancy.
That's something this mother fears most.
College student He Shanshan is now a campus volunteer, part of a national initiative to educate young people about sex.
"I've noticed two particularly extreme situations here. First, some girls are very scared of having sex, and think it shouldn't happen. Second, some use abortion as an alternative to contraception. They're not taking precautions but instead use the morning after pill or surgery," she said.
Her observations have been proved in a survey taken from 130 universities in China.
It shows that among girls who have fallen pregnant, nearly a quarter had abortions on more than one occasion.
China has included reproductive health into its five year development plan.
An official said that aside from volunteering projects, sex education needs to be more carefully incorporated into school curricula.
"The Education Ministry has asked for better sex education for students. Teachers mainly talk about it from a physiological perspective or even let students self-teach by reading material at home," said Hong Ping, vice secretary-general of China Family Planning Association.
Hong says sex education should begin in primary school, and that it's time to make reproductive health services more easily accessible to young people.
