Singaporeans want more attention to be paid to the emotional aspects of sex during sex education in schools.

This was one of the results of the recent Durex Sexual Wellbeing Global Survey.

This fourth phase of the survey, on Knowledge And Education, found that only 12 per cent of Singaporeans felt that they had gained a greater understanding about the emotional attributes of sex, such as love and respect, from sex education in schools.

In addition, 54 per cent felt that sex education should have been more "emotionally inclusive".

Some counsellors find these statistics worrying.

"The lack of knowledge in emotions may have also led to an increase in teenage sex and pregnancies," said Dr Carol Balhetchet, a child psychologist and an expert in the field of teenage sex and pregnancies.

"They are unaware that sex is an emotional commitment and not about impressing friends."

The Ministry of Education's newly issued guidelines stipulate that issues such as pre-marital sex and abortion must be touched on in sex education programmes in schools.

Of those who have undergone sex education in school, 54 per cent said that they had learnt the most from there.

Another 61 per cent said that they derived most of what they knew from magazines while 52 per cent cited the Internet.

The previous three phases in the survey focused on the subjects Satisfaction, In The Bedroom and The Big O.

Twenty-six countries took part in the survey which aimed to look deeper into what constitutes sexual well-being and its contribution to the overall well-being of a person.

This article was first published in Mind Your Body, The Straits Times.