Teen pregnancy rates, nationwide, have dropped between 1990 and 2004, according to a report recently released by the CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control). Abortions also dropped by 24 percent during this time period, perhaps indicating that comprehensive sex education has had the desired effect on teen sexual activity and behaviors.

Unfortunately, the optimistic 2004 stats were offset by a preliminary CDC report on 2006 births, which showed an increase in the number of teen pregnancies for the first-time in 14 years. And in one Massachusetts school, the news is even more depressing.

In the past year, the teen pregnancy rate at Gloucester High School has more than quadrupled, with 17 young women pregnant. What’s more, many of the girls view this as a good thing. It is part of a “pregnancy pact,” in which many girls, all under 16, pledged to get pregnant and raise their children together.

The breaking-news article published in Time reported that several students requested multiple pregnancy tests this spring and, according to the school principle, “Some girls seemed more upset when they weren’t pregnant than when they were.”

When school officials and the high school clinic’s medical director advocated dispensing oral contraceptives without parental consent, however, they faced opposition from many people in the predominantly-Catholic community.

The big question: How will birth control pills help stop pregnancy if teenage girls are actually trying to get pregnant? Maybe “comprehensive sex ed curriculum” should be expanded to include spending 24 hours a day, every day for a week or more, with a colicky infant.

On a serious note, if teen pregnancy is, in fact, on the rise, and the 2006 numbers were not just an odd peak in an otherwise downward trend, what’s the real solution?

China + sex revolution are hot buzz words lately, with topics about China’s sex-culture flooding the internet. Once controversial subjects like promiscuity, homosexuality, prostitution, AIDS, abortion, pornography and masturbation would have be taboo in China. They are now the focus of passionate public debate. One documentary, China’s Sexual Revolution (2007) that first aired on CBC takes a covert look as the slumbering giant’s libido awakens.

The documentary opens with a scene of young people necking in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, only two decades after the massacre. This liberalization of a new sexual freedom is the result of various determining factors including modernization, urbanization, China’s “one child policy”, women’s liberation, and a half a century of Maoist sexual repression and conform.

Chairman Mao—leader of the PRC from 1949 until his death in 1976—was mainly responsible for making sex a taboo. Under Mao’s dictatorship, it became mandatory for everyone to wear the unisex Mao suits which concealed a women’s curves and transformed lovers into androgynous comrades. Sex was to be performed as a reproductive duty only. Citizen’s private lives were also extremely restricted, resulting in loveless, sexless marriages.

Shortly after Mao’s death, the “one child policy” was introduced in China in 1979 as a form of “population control” in an attempt to alleviate social and environmental problems. This policy has had distinct effects on China’s social structure. It liberated women from their reproductive responsibility allowing them to pursue higher education and careers. However, it has resulted in an unbalanced ratio of men to women, with an estimated population of 30 million more men to women by 2020.

China now has the fastest growing sex trade in the world with roughly 10-20 million sex workers. Schoolgirls are being lured into the sex trade at karaoke clubs, while prostitution is widespread in bars, beauty salons, brothels and concubine villages. An AIDS epidemic is sweeping the nation as well, with approximately 200 people infected daily, and an estimated 10 million people to be infected by 2010. According to the China Family Planning Association premarital sex, pregnancy and abortions are all on the rise, especially among high school girls. Many educators have blamed outdated sex education, with people uninformed about birth control. Xu Tianming, the president of China Sexology Society, says that sexual ignorance outnumbers illiteracy.

Leading sexologists, like Pan Suiming, from the Sex Museum near Shanghai where visitors can view 1500 artifacts from China’s 9000 years of sexual history. Liu also shows his collection at Hong Kong’s first nude photo contest to take place and soft-core porn to be published in magazines. This is just the latest sign that sex is infiltrating the mainstream media. And, although the government is trying to eliminate online porn, much of it still falls through the cracks.

Muzi Mei is a sex blogger who became an instant celebrity in 2003 when she posted audio erotica of her own lovemaking on her blog. The podcast was downloaded by more than 50,000 people at once, crashing the server. She has since become a role model and characterizes the sexual attitudes of contemporary Chinese women.

There is no doubt that China is undergoing a sexual revolution. But, they still have a long way to go as far as public education. While 60-70% of Chinese have had pre-marital sex, only 20% of the men know where to find the clitoris and just 50% of the women have ever experienced an orgasm. One thing, however is for certain: Sex—China’s great taboo—is back out in the open.

Domina Doll is a sex writer who writes articles and reviews for various magazines, zines and adult toy stores. Visit her sexuality blog CherryBoxxx at http://cherryboxxx.blogspot.com/.