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TITLE 19EDUCATION
PART 2TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY
CHAPTER 115TEXAS ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS FOR HEALTH EDUCATION
SUBCHAPTER BMIDDLE SCHOOL
RULE §115.27Grades 7-8, Adopted 2020

    (B) explain the social and emotional impacts of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, sexual assault, and sex trafficking;

    (C) define dating violence and the characteristics of unhealthy or harmful relationships, including anger, controlling behavior, jealousy, manipulation, and isolation;

    (D) identify protective strategies for avoiding unsafe situations that heighten the risk of sexual harassment, sexual abuse, sexual assault, sex trafficking, and teen dating violence;

    (E) explain the importance of reporting to a parent or another trusted adult sexual harassment, sexual abuse, sexual assault, sex trafficking, and dating violence involving self or others;

    (F) describe how a healthy sense of self and making decisions regarding setting and respecting personal boundaries promote healthy dating/romantic relationships;

    (G) discuss and practice how refusal skills can be used to resist negative peer influences and reinforce personal boundaries to avoid dangerous situations and behaviors that increase sexual risk in dating/romantic relationships; and

    (H) explain the importance of clearly communicating and respecting personal boundaries and why individuals have the right to refuse sexual contact.

  (22) Reproductive and sexual health--anatomy, puberty, reproduction, and pregnancy. The student analyzes adolescent development, the process of fertilization, and healthy fetal development. The student is expected to:

    (A) compare and contrast the physical, hormonal, and emotional changes in males and females that occur during puberty and adolescence;

    (B) identify how the process of fertilization occurs between a man and a woman through sexual intercourse;

    (C) explain significant milestones of fetal development and the harmful effects on the fetus of certain substances such as alcohol, tobacco, and prescription drugs and environmental hazards such as lead;

    (D) describe the importance of telling a parent or another trusted adult, obtaining early pregnancy testing, and seeking prenatal care if signs of pregnancy occur; and

    (E) define the emotional changes that may occur during and after pregnancy, including postpartum depression, and discuss resources for support and treatment.

  (23) Reproductive and sexual health--sexual risk. The student understands that there are risks associated with sexual activity and that abstinence from sexual activity is the only 100% effective method to avoid risks. The student is expected to:

    (A) explain how teen pregnancy is a possible outcome of sexual activity;

    (B) explain the short- and long-term educational, financial, and social impacts of pregnancy on teen parents, the child, families, and society;

    (C) identify the difference between bacterial and viral sexually transmitted diseases/sexually transmitted infections (STDs/STIs), including long-term or lifetime effects such as infertility and cancer;

    (D) describe various modes of transmission of STDs/STIs;

    (E) identify the prevalence of STDs/STIs among teens by referencing county, state, and/or federal data sources;

    (F) list the signs and symptoms of STDs/STIs, including human papillomavirus (HPV), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrhea, herpes, and trichomoniasis, and explain why not all STDs/STIs show symptoms initially;

    (G) explain the importance of STD/STI screening, testing, and early treatment for sexually active individuals, including during yearly physicals or if there is a concern;

    (H) identify community resources, a minor's right to consent under certain circumstances, and the importance of parent or other trusted adult support for STD/STI testing and treatment;

    (I) identify emotional risks that can be associated with sexual activity for unmarried persons of school age, including stress, anxiety, and depression;

    (J) identify support from parents and other trusted adults to be abstinent from sexual activity and create strategies for building peer support to be abstinent;

    (K) analyze the importance of abstinence as the preferred choice of behavior in relationship to all sexual activity for unmarried persons of school age;

    (L) analyze the effectiveness and the risks and failure rates (human-use reality rates) of barrier protection and other contraceptive methods in the prevention of STDs/STIs and pregnancy;

    (M) explain that HPV vaccines can help prevent the transmission of the most common types of HPV, a virus that can cause genital warts and cervical cancer and other cancers in males and females;

    (N) research and explain the benefits of abstinence from sexual activity such as increased self-esteem, self-confidence, and student academic achievement;

    (O) define legal implications of teen pregnancy, including the legal effects of acknowledgement and proof of paternity;

    (P) describe legal aspects of sexual activity with a minor person, including the legal age of consent, statutory rape, aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, sexual abuse, and indecency with a child; and

    (Q) examine the legal ramifications of sexual offenses such as sexual harassment, sexual abuse, and sexual assault.


Source Note: The provisions of this §115.27 adopted to be effective August 1, 2022, 46 TexReg 2756

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