Monday, October 6, 2008
The General Assembly is not in session.
Tracking Virginia’s General Assembly
since 2007.
SB640: Family life education; adds mental health education
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 22.1-207.1 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 22.1-207.1. Family life education.
The Board of Education shall develop by December 1, 1987,
standards of learning and curriculum guidelines for a comprehensive, sequential
family life education curriculum in grades K through 12. Such curriculum
guidelines shall include instruction as appropriate for the age of the student
in family living and community 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,; dating
violence, the characteristics of abusive relationships, steps to take to avoid
sexual assault, and 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; and
the etiology, prevention and effects of sexually transmitted
diseases; and mental health
education and awareness, to
help reduce the stigma of mental illness.
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.
For the purposes of this section, "abstinence education" means an educational or motivational component which has as its exclusive purpose teaching the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by teenagers' abstaining from sexual activity before marriage.
Additional Data
Explanation
This is the actual text of the bill — the legislation itself. Generally this is amending existing law, proposing the addition or removal of words from laws that are already on the books.
Words that are highlighted in yellow are
proposed additions, and words that are crossed out in
red are proposed removals.
The numbers with the § symbol before them are references to existing laws, and if you click on them they’ll take you to that part of the law on the state's website.