Flawed sex revolution revealed in youth poll

HONG KONG'S teenagers are in the throes of a sexual revolution - but they do not have the sexual education to match.

A newly released survey shows a steep rise in sexual encounters for boys and girls as young as 14 - with more than 40 per cent having dating experience. But more than a third also said they had insufficient knowledge of sex.

The survey, ''Sex Role, Attitude and Behaviour of Youth in Hong Kong'' was conducted by the Breakthrough organisation, a youth concern group. The group contacted 1,500 people aged from 14 to 24.

The replies showed that more than 43 per cent had dated and among those 94.5 per cent had held hands, 87 per cent had embraced, and 73.7 per cent had kissed.

Moving up the sexual experience scale, 35 per cent had fondled or had their breasts fondled, 30 per cent had indulged in heavy petting and 20 per cent had sex.

The figures, when compared with a similar survey carried out by the Family Planning Association in 1986, show across-the-board increases of 50 per cent.

''We're not only shocked by the soaring figures and the loose attitude of the new generation towards sex - the most worrying trend is that the findings indicated many of them, particularly girls, didn't know how to say no to sex,'' Dr Philemon Choi Yuen-wan, general secretary of Breakthrough, said.