Where do I come from?

PKG

Parents are always terrified of their children asking the dreaded question "where do I come from?"

Now, a popular online cartoon series is expected to save parents the embarassment of educating youngsters about the birds and the bees.

PKG

The cartoon series were made in three parts with each lasting about one minute.

It uses humour 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 Nutcracker Studios, which produced the cartoon, said they want to get rid of the common children's idea that they were picked up at a garbage dump, a typical joke reply given by many Chinese parents.

Instead, 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 the new method of educating youngsters about sex.

However, some Internet users pointed out that children could still find it difficult to understand.

Sex education among children remains controversial in a country where many blush when sex is mentioned in public.

However, the topic has attracted growing attention recently after a series of molestation scandals against children were uncovered.

Zhao Yilong, who made the cartoon, said the public should face up to children's natural curiosity about sex, adding Chinese children have little access to sex education and their parents struggle to explain the process.

A survey released in June, showed that only 37.9 percent of parents had educated their children about their private parts.

The survey conducted by Beijing News and the Maple Women's Psychological Counseling Center, a non-governmental organization, polled 107 children between 6 and 14, and more than 1,100 parents via the Internet.

Liu Wenli, who leads a research group on children's sex education at Beijing Normal University, said the instant popularity of the "innovative" cartoon reflects the scarcity of high-quality sex education material in China.

Zhao Yilong said he hoped the cartoon series will help more adults and give them ideas as to how to answer their children's sex-related questions.

Zhao's team plans more cartoons about sex, including risks and worries about sex in adolescence and adulthood.