Most postgraduate students in Shanghai learned about sex from friends or the Internet, not in the classroom, a recent survey indicates.

 

The survey, conducted by the postgraduate student union at Shanghai University, asked 315 postgraduate students in the city about their attitudes towards love, sex and marriage.

 

Only 10 percent of postgraduates surveyed said they have received sex education at school. Thirty-seven percent said they learned about sex by watching movies and television. About 8 percent of students said they have visited pornographic Websites to learn more about sex, according to the survey.

 

"Sex is something mythical but of great curiosity for most young people," said Shen Yaxin, who is in his third year of a masters program at Fudan University.

 

"But since sex education is almost non-existent in school, it is natural for young people to turn to other sources" of information, Shen said. More than 51 percent of survey respondents said they would turn to classmates or friends for advice on how to deal with sex-related problems.

 

Forty-two percent of respondents, meanwhile, said they would hide their love or sex confusions from others.

 

Only 5 percent of postgraduates would turn to parents or teachers for help, the survey suggested. He Shanqing, who helped conduct the survey, said the results show schools still don't pay enough attention to sex education, which is absolutely needed by modern university students.

 

The survey also indicated that postgraduate students are open minded about who they are willing to fall in love with.

 

Traditionally in China, a woman should be younger and shorter than her boyfriend or husband. Some people also believe a man should have a better education and earn a larger salary than his girlfriend or wife.

 

About 53 percent of male students and 40 percent of female students surveyed said that they don't care if their lover has a better education than they do.

 

Seventy-four percent of respondents said they have no problem with a woman dating a younger man.

 

But only 29 percent of students said that it is OK for a woman to date a man who is shorter than she is, the survey said.

 

(Shanghai Daily January 7, 2006)