<p>Third graders at the Chaoyang district school in Beijing received their first lesson in sex education in the form of a toilet tour on Monday.<br /><br />Giving children an opportunity to peek into the other gender's bathroom is a way to help boys and girls understand gender roles under the new initiative, educators said.<br /><br />"Children tend to be curious about the bathrooms of the opposite sex," sex lecturer Hou Wenjun at Anhuili Central Primary School told Beijing News.<br /><br />Hou believes that education starts with curiosity. "A tour to the bathroom lets children see what behavioural differences there are between the two sexes."<br /><br />Now an official part of the school's curriculum for grades one to 6 (ages 6 to 11), sex education begins with the fundamental subject of fertilisation, a report in the state run Global Times said.<br /><br />Students first viewed a PowerPoint presentation illustrating how sperm fertilise eggs.<br />When asked how gender is determined, the students came with guesses such as "it depends on what Mom wants" and "bigger eggs grow into boys while smaller ones make girls."<br /><br />Visiting the bathroom can be a good technique in teaching gender codes to students, Zhang Meimei, sex education expert at Capital Normal University said.<br /><br />"The bathroom of the opposite sex can be a mysterious place. I have known a lot of third- and fourth-grade boys who would sneak into the lady's room just to see what it is like," Zhang said.<br /><br />"Sex educators can take this curiosity and turn it into knowledge of social norms regarding sex.<br /><br />Kids are going to learn why society expects men and women to behave differently and not just in the bathroom," she said.<br /><br />Zhang is leading a pilot research program on sex education practices in Beijing, and Anhuili Central Primary School is now cooperating in research.<br /><br /><br /></p>
<p>Third graders at the Chaoyang district school in Beijing received their first lesson in sex education in the form of a toilet tour on Monday.<br /><br />Giving children an opportunity to peek into the other gender's bathroom is a way to help boys and girls understand gender roles under the new initiative, educators said.<br /><br />"Children tend to be curious about the bathrooms of the opposite sex," sex lecturer Hou Wenjun at Anhuili Central Primary School told Beijing News.<br /><br />Hou believes that education starts with curiosity. "A tour to the bathroom lets children see what behavioural differences there are between the two sexes."<br /><br />Now an official part of the school's curriculum for grades one to 6 (ages 6 to 11), sex education begins with the fundamental subject of fertilisation, a report in the state run Global Times said.<br /><br />Students first viewed a PowerPoint presentation illustrating how sperm fertilise eggs.<br />When asked how gender is determined, the students came with guesses such as "it depends on what Mom wants" and "bigger eggs grow into boys while smaller ones make girls."<br /><br />Visiting the bathroom can be a good technique in teaching gender codes to students, Zhang Meimei, sex education expert at Capital Normal University said.<br /><br />"The bathroom of the opposite sex can be a mysterious place. I have known a lot of third- and fourth-grade boys who would sneak into the lady's room just to see what it is like," Zhang said.<br /><br />"Sex educators can take this curiosity and turn it into knowledge of social norms regarding sex.<br /><br />Kids are going to learn why society expects men and women to behave differently and not just in the bathroom," she said.<br /><br />Zhang is leading a pilot research program on sex education practices in Beijing, and Anhuili Central Primary School is now cooperating in research.<br /><br /><br /></p>