Senate Bill 218, House Bill 3434
An Act Relative to Providing Health Education in Schools would make explicit that comprehensive health education is a core subject for public schools, and it would create a system to identify the current gaps in health education across Massachusetts.
Background on health education in Massachusetts
Some school districts have excellent health education programs. Other school districts have little or no health education as part of their curriculum.
In 1993, the Supreme Judicial Court required that the Commonwealth provide an adequate education for those enrolled in the public schools. It further defined “adequacy” by requiring that students possess specific capabilities including, “sufficient self-knowledge and knowledge of his or her mental and physical wellness”.
The Massachusetts Department of Education (DOE) created a science-based health education framework in response to the Supreme Judicial Court decision. However, the DOE has no mechanism to enforce the compliance of school districts unless health education is part of the core curriculum.
View the Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Education Curriculum Framework:
Why is this necessary?
Adding health education to the core curriculum affords students the opportunity to learn about a wide range of important topics such as nutrition, physical activity, mental health, safety and injury prevention, reproduction and sexuality, substance abuse prevention, violence prevention, consumer health, growth and development, family life, interpersonal relationships, disease prevention, ecological health and community health.
Results of the 2005 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey demonstrate that young people in the Commonwealth are very much in need of health education. Among Massachusetts youth:
- 51% had tried smoking cigarettes at least once in their lifetime
- 27% engaged in at least one episode of binge drinking in the month prior to the survey
- 13% had seriously considered suicide
- Among sexually active students, only 65% used a condom the last time they had sex
- 45% have had sexual intercourse in their lifetimes
- 29% were in a physical fight in the 12 months before the survey
- 27% are overweight or at risk for being overweight.
The survey also found that risky behaviors are associated with lower academic achievement, and that health education can raise school attendance, graduation rates, and increase cognitive development and decision-making skills.
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