Retired Tongji University professor Zhou Mingxiao, 64, taught courses on sexual psychology and physiology at a city air force base in April and late July. About 400 male and female soldiers were enrolled.
Zhou was introduced to the base by its surrounding community.
"As society gets more and more modern, sex is no longer a dirty word, but a science that can influence a person's life," she said.
Since the soldiers were all in their 20s, it was imperative to provide them with sex education, she insisted.
"The army is a comparatively con-servative institution compared to others and there is no special course or teachers to provide timely and correct direction to soldiers regarding doubts over sex," Zhou added.
This is the first time that any branch of the armed forces has allowed sex education. "If successful, the pilot program may be expanded to more military units," she said without elaborating. Army officials were unavailable for comment.
Zhou taught construction at Tongji. Since she found many students grappling with problems concerning sex and saw how it influenced their studies and life, she decided to promote sex education among young adults. She gave her first lecture on the subject in 1987.
Compared with other young people, soldiers, who are more disciplined, felt more uneasy talking about sex, Zhou said.
"I explained the reproductive system and the physiological changes that occur during a person's growth and taught the soldiers how to maintain personal hygiene.
"The necessary knowledge on women's periods, pregnancy and the process of intercourse were all included in my course," she said.
Zhou also focuses on psychology.
"I explain why a person begins to be interested in the opposite sex, how to make friends with persons of the op-posite sex and what to do if one encounters problems during courting," Zhou said.
She said psychological adjustment is very important for a person.
(Eastday.com 08/07/2001)
