A. As used in this section, “abstinence education” means an educational or motivational component that has as its exclusive purpose teaching the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by teenagers’ abstaining from sexual activity before marriage.

B. The Board of Education shall develop Standards of Learning and curriculum guidelines for a comprehensive, sequential family life education curriculum in grades kindergarten through 12. Such curriculum guidelines shall include instruction as appropriate for the age of the student in family living and community relationships; the benefits, challenges, responsibilities, and value of marriage for men, women, children, and communities; the value of family relationships; abstinence education; the value of postponing sexual activity; the benefits of adoption as a positive choice in the event of an unwanted pregnancy; human sexuality; human reproduction; the prevention of human trafficking, including the human trafficking of children; dating violence, the characteristics of abusive relationships, steps to take to deter sexual assault, the availability of counseling and legal resources, and, in the event of such sexual assault, the importance of immediate medical attention and advice, as well as the requirements of the law; the etiology, prevention, and effects of sexually transmitted diseases; and mental health education and awareness.

C. All such instruction shall be designed to promote parental involvement, foster positive self-concepts, and provide mechanisms for coping with peer pressure and the stresses of modern living according to the students’ developmental stages and abilities. The Board shall also establish requirements for appropriate training for teachers of family life education, which shall include training in instructional elements to support the various curriculum components.

D. Each school board shall conduct a review of its family life education curricula at least once every seven years, shall evaluate whether such curricula reflect contemporary community standards, and shall revise such curricula if necessary.

1987, c. 371; 1999, c. 422; 2002, c. 554; 2004, c. 1030; 2007, c. 32; 2008, c. 417; 2009, cc. 437, 583; 2017, c. 692; 2019, c. 595; 2020, c. 687; 2022, c. 459.