Bill Overview
An Act relative to healthy youth (S.268/H.544) is a common sense bill that reflects the consensus of the vast majority of MA residents. The bill's core provision is simple: it will require any public school that already chooses to teach sex ed to provide a "medically accurate, age-appropriate, comprehensive sexual health education." It rests on three key pillars:
- Sex ed should be accurate and age-appropriate. In every other subject, we require that our schools teach students factual information that matches their grade level. We don't expect kindergarteners to learn calculus - and we certainly don't teach them that one and one add up to three. Sex education should be no different. Students should learn material that's appropriate to their age, and they should learn factually accurate content. That's why the Healthy Youth Act requires that students be taught information that is "recognized as accurate and objective by leading medical, psychological, psychiatric and public health organizations and agencies and, if relevant, published in peer-reviewed journals" and "suitable" to each age group, "based on their developing cognitive, emotional, social, and behavioral capacity."
- Sex ed should be consent-based. Given what we know about the rates of domestic violence and sexual assault among teenagers, it's critical we teach them the skills to advocate for themselves and recognize unhealthy patterns. When the first time a student learns about consent is college, we're reaching them far too late to prevent the epidemic of sexual assault on college campuses. That's why the bill requires that courses cover the "relationship and communication skills" necessary to "form healthy, respectful relationships free of violence, coercion, and intimidation and to make healthy decisions about relationships and sexuality, including, but not limited to, affirmative, conscious and voluntary consent." So that students, that bill also requires that sex ed courses cover "the skills to recognize and prevent dating violence."
- Sex ed should be LGBTQ+ inclusive. When 81% of LGBTQ+ students in our state report that their schools' health classes did not cover the tools and information that they need to stay safe and healthy as LGBTQ+ people, we have to face the reality that we are simply failing these teens. At best, most LGBTQ+ youth can expect health classes that teach them irrelevant information about the health risks or body parts involved in sex and overlook forms of protection they deserve to know about. At worst, these students are often taught misleading, stigmatizing information about LGBTQ+ topics that can negatively impact both their mental and sexual health. That's why the bill will require health classes to cover "age-appropriate information about gender identity and sexual orientation for all students, including affirmative education that people have different sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions", as well as to provide students with information about LGBTQ+-friendly resources and support services.
- It supports family involvement. The bill ensures that families can learn what their children will be taught in sex and relationships education in a timely, accessible fashion with information in multiple languages. This supports family engagement in these important topics, encourages valuable communication at home, and allows for opting out if desired.
- It emphasizes media literacy. When we ask teenagers where they learn about sex and relationships, overwhelmingly they point to pop culture and the Internet. Our youth are absorbing information from media that isn't necessarily educational, accurate, and reinforces pernicious stereotypes; and they are rarely given time to process it or discuss the damaging impacts of some misrepresentations. The bill therefore requires health classes to incorporate opportunities for students to analyze societal and media messages.
- It represents popular consensus. When polled, the overwhelming majority of MA parents agree: our students should be learning comprehensive, accurate information in sex and relationships education. But right now, our kids are still stuck with outdated guidelines that were last updated in 1999 and no guarantee that they'll learn factual content in sex ed. That's why we need to pass the Healthy Youth Act now.
Bill Status
The Coalition is lucky to be working with an incredible set of chief sponsors, Sen. Sal DiDomenico, Rep. Jim O'Day, and Rep. Vanna Howard. Thanks to their work championing the bill, as well as help from our amazing co-sponsors, the Healthy Youth Act is poised to come to vote soon!
The bill was first proposed in 2011 and we've been advocating for it ever since. We came closer than ever last year, and with your help, we know we can do it this year!
The bill was first proposed in 2011 and we've been advocating for it ever since. We came closer than ever last year, and with your help, we know we can do it this year!
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