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2019 SESSION
19102691DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 22.1-207.1 and 22.1-207.1:1 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 22.1-207.1. Family life education.
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; dating violence, the characteristics of abusive relationships, steps to take to deter 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; the etiology, prevention, and effects of sexually transmitted diseases; and mental health education and awareness. The Board of Education shall adapt such Standards of Learning and curriculum guidelines, as necessary, to meet the needs of students in special education.
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.
§ 22.1-207.1:1. Family life education; certain curricula and Standards of Learning.
A. Any family life education curriculum offered by a local
school division
board shall require the Standards of Learning objectives
related to dating violence and the characteristics of abusive relationships to
be taught at least once in middle school and at least twice in high school, as
described in the Board of Education's family life education guidelines.
B. Any high school family life education curriculum offered by
a local school division board shall incorporate
age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the
prevention of dating violence, domestic abuse, sexual harassment, including
sexual harassment using electronic means, and sexual violence and may
incorporate age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs
on the law and meaning of consent. Such age-appropriate elements of effective
and evidence-based programs on the prevention of sexual violence may include
instruction that increases student awareness of the fact that consent is
required before sexual activity.
C. Any family life education curriculum offered in any elementary school, middle school, or high school shall incorporate age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the importance of the personal privacy and personal boundaries of other individuals and tools for a student to use to ensure that he respects the personal privacy and personal boundaries of other individuals.
D. Any family life education curriculum offered by a local
school division
board may incorporate age-appropriate elements of effective
and evidence-based programs on the prevention, recognition, and awareness of
child abduction, child abuse, child sexual exploitation, and child sexual
abuse.
E. A local school board offering a family life education curriculum shall ensure that students in special education receive appropriate instruction that is consistent with any adaptations by the Board for such students of its family life education Standards of Learning and curriculum guidelines.