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The Healthy Youth Act, passed by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2009, aimed to improve the quality of sexual health education in the state's public schools. The passing of this act represented a shift towards more comprehensive and evidence-based sexual health education in North Carolina's public schools, aiming to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to make informed decisions about their sexual health for grades 7th - high school. The key provisions of the act include:
Comprehensive Education: The act required that sexual health education provided in public schools be comprehensive, meaning it should include information on both abstinence and contraception.
Medically Accurate Information: It mandated that the information presented in sexual health education programs be medically accurate and based on scientific evidence.
Age-Appropriate Content: The act emphasized the importance of delivering age-appropriate content, ensuring that the material was suitable for the developmental stage of the students.
Inclusion of STD and Pregnancy Prevention: The act required instruction on the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and pregnancy, including information on contraception and condoms.
Parental Involvement: While the act promoted parental involvement in sexual health education, it did not mandate parental consent for students to participate in the instruction.
Opt-Out Option: Parents were provided with the option to remove their children from sexual health education classes if they wished.
Policy number 3540 passed by the Chatham County Board of Education in 2013 reflects the county's commitment to a sound comprehensive health education program. In 2018, the Chatham County Board of Education approved the instructional materials used to teach about puberty & hygiene (4th-6th grades) and reproductive health & safety education (7th grade-high school). The instructional material can be found in the media center at each school.
The instructional materials approved by the Chatham County Board of Education were developed using the North Carolina Essential Standards for Healthful Living. This instruction is included under the Interpersonal Communication and Relationships standard. In addition to puberty & hygiene (4th-6th grades) and reproductive health & safety education (7th grade - high school), this standards also inculdes instruction on healthy relationships. Below are the esential standards associated with the puberty & hygiene information instruction (4th - 6th grades) and reproductive health & safety education instruction (7th grade - high school).
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