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2006 SESSION

060241380
HOUSE BILL NO. 164
Offered January 11, 2006
Prefiled December 29, 2005
A BILL to amend and reenact § 22.1-207.1 of the Code of Virginia, relating to family life education.
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Patrons-- Lingamfelter, Gilbert and Welch
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Referred to Committee on Education
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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.

A. 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,; information on the prevention, transmission, and spread of sexually transmitted diseases including acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS); 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.

B. 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.

C. Any family life education course including a discussion of sexual intercourse shall emphasize that abstinence is the accepted norm and is the only guarantee against unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. Course materials and instruction in any such family life education course shall include the following:

1. Age appropriate subject matter;

2. An emphasis on honor and respect for monogamous heterosexual marriage;

3. A discussion on the value of postponing sexual activity until marriage including the emotional and psychological consequences of adolescent sexual intercourse and unwanted pregnancy;

4. Information on the possible transmission of sexually transmitted diseases through protected and unprotected sexual intercourse;

5. An overview of laws addressing (i) the financial responsibility of parents to children born out of wedlock and (ii) circumstances under which it is unlawful for unmarried persons to have sexual relations; and

6. Advice on avoiding unwanted sexual advances and resisting negative peer pressure.

D. 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.

E. No student shall be required to participate in any class taught pursuant to this section if a parent or guardian submits written objection thereto.