Online sex-education cartoon proves popular
Print Edition
An online cartoon series that deals with the question “where do I come from?” has turned out to be a big hit, breaking a taboo of educating youngsters about the birds and the bees.
The three-part series, each lasting one minute, uses humor to describe where babies come from, why boys and girls are different and how to prevent sexual assaults, topics which many parents try to avoid.
The cartoon, which was made by Nutcracker Studios, tells children “they were not picked up at a garbage dump,” a typical reply given by many Chinese parents.
The narrator says babies are conceived by “a combination of sperm and eggs” and compares the process to an injection.
The cartoons can be viewed on a number of Chinese websites, with many netizens applauding this different way of educating youngsters about sex. However, some Internet users pointed out that children would still find it difficult to understand.
Sex education among children remains controversial in the country and people often blush when sex is publicly mentioned in Confucius culture-dominated China.
However, the topic has attracted attention after a series of molestation scandals against children, which prompted Zhao Yilong, creator of the cartoon, to make the series.
“Children are curious about sex, so we wanted to explain it clearly through a cartoon,” Zhao said, adding that Chinese children get little access to sex education and their parents are also at a loss about it.
The series deals with the issue in a humorous way, said Zhao Yue of Guokr.com, a popular science website that funded Zhao Yilong’s project.
A survey released in June and conducted by The Beijing News and the Maple Women’s Psychological Counseling Center showed that only 37.9 percent of parents had educated their children about private parts which no one else can touch.
About 107 children between the ages of six and 14 and more than 1,100 parents participated in the written questionnaire.
Liu Wenli, who leads a research group on children’s sex education in Beijing Normal University, said the instant popularity of the “innovative” cartoon reflects the scarcity of high-quality sex education material in China.
“The Internet has become an effective tool for sex education but it cannot replace the roles of parents and schools,” Liu said.
As a trailblazer, Zhao Yilong said he hoped the cartoon series will help more adults and give them ideas to answer their children’s sex-related questions.
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