| (a) General requirements. Students shall be awarded
one-half credit for successful completion of this course. Recommended
prerequisite: Health I. This course is recommended for students in
Grades 9-12.
(b) Introduction.
(1) The goal of health education is to provide instruction
that allows youth to develop and sustain health-promoting behaviors
throughout their lives. The understanding and application of these
standards will allow students the ability to gather, interpret, and
understand health information; achieve health literacy; and adapt
to the ever-evolving science of health. The health education knowledge
and skills should be presented to students in a positive manner to
support the development of a healthy self-concept and responsible
decision making. The standards will help students reinforce, foster,
and apply positive character traits.
(2) There are essential skills that repeat throughout
six strands and embody the interconnection of health literacy. These
skills include decision making, problem solving, goal setting, maintaining
healthy relationships with self and others, seeking help and support,
and recognizing various influences on health such as social, environmental,
media, and genetic. These skills, developed early on and reinforced
throughout a student's education, will foster mastery of health concepts.
Health class educators are encouraged to partner with school counselors
where available to schedule time for them to deliver classroom guidance
lessons to help teach these essential competencies. In addition, areas
in the standards related to abuse, neglect, violence, loss, grief,
trauma, and suicide may directly affect some students in the classroom.
Should the educator recognize signs of discomfort with instruction
in these areas, students should be referred to the appropriate resource,
identified ahead of such instruction, for additional help and support.
(3) Students will gain an understanding of health information
and skills through six strands: physical health and hygiene; mental
health and wellness; healthy eating and physical activity; injury
and violence prevention and safety; alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs;
and reproductive and sexual health.
(A) Physical health and hygiene education helps to
prepare students for improved lifelong health outcomes. Learning about
body systems lays the foundation for personal health and hygiene.
Health literacy and preventative behaviors empowers students to make
informed choices to support self, family, and community.
(B) The mental health and wellness strand recognizes
that the knowledge and skills necessary to manage emotions, reactions,
and relationships are essential to reaching one's full potential.
Students gain knowledge about social and emotional health, including
developing a healthy self-concept, understanding risk and protective
factors, and identifying and managing mental health and wellness concerns.
In the early grades, students develop fluency around emotions and
self-regulation and understand the relationship between feelings,
thoughts, and behavior. In subsequent grades, students learn and practice
appropriate ways to solve interpersonal conflicts, work to develop
a positive self-image, and develop healthy self-management skills.
(C) The healthy eating and physical activity strand
addresses the importance of nutrition and physical activity to support
a healthy lifestyle. Students apply critical-thinking and decision-making
skills to make positive health choices. Students learn about essential
nutrients, food groups, portion control, government nutritional recommendations,
and the health benefits of being physically active. Students evaluate
the connection between physical activity and nutrition and the prevention
of chronic diseases.
(D) By focusing on injury and violence prevention and
safety, the standards promote student well-being and awareness of
dangerous situations. Supporting student well-being and providing
instruction in digital citizenship, bullying prevention, first aid,
and identification of safe and unsafe situations creates empowered
and educated students who are able to make decisions that keep themselves
and others safe. Beginning in Kindergarten and continuing through
high school, students gain knowledge and skills to support safety
and wellness at school, at home, online, and in the community.
(E) The standards under the alcohol, tobacco, and other
drugs strand focus on a number of protective factors that develop
empowered students who are able to make better-informed decisions,
including understanding the impact of substance use on physical, mental,
and social health. Through this strand, students learn key concepts
about alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, including the use, misuse,
and physiological effects; short- and long-term impacts on health;
treatment; risk and protective factors; and prevention. These concepts
introduce healthy alternatives and ways for students to ask for and
seek out help from parents and other trusted adults.
(F) In the reproductive and sexual health strand, students
identify the characteristics of healthy and unhealthy relationships
and learn to use communication and refusal skills to set personal
boundaries and develop strategies for responding to sexual harassment
and abuse. Students describe the changes associated with adolescent
development and explain the process of fertilization, fetal development,
and the importance of prenatal care. Students also learn that sexual
abstinence until marriage is the only 100% effective means of avoiding
unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases/sexually transmitted
infections (STDs/STIs) as well as the legal, financial, and social
issues associated with sexual health and reproduction.
(4) An integral part of health education involves educators
being aware of state laws relevant to human sexuality instruction.
These laws include affirming:
(A) a local school district's control over the provision
of human sexuality instruction to ensure that local community values
are reflected in that instruction (Texas Education Code (TEC), §28.004(e)-(h));
(B) the right of a parent or legal guardian to be informed
of the provision of human sexuality instruction to their child and
review the content of that instruction (TEC, §28.004(i)-(j));
(C) the right of a parent or legal guardian to remove
their child from any portion of human sexuality instruction without
penalty to the child (TEC, §28.004(i));
(D) the centrality of abstinence education in any human
sexuality curriculum (TEC, §28.004(e)); and
(E) the right of a parent or legal guardian to be informed
of and consent to an abortion performed on their pregnant child (with
judicially authorized or medical emergency exceptions) (Texas Family
Code, Chapter 33).
(5) Educators also should be aware of and abide by
the statutory prohibition on taxpayer resource transactions between
state governmental entities, including public schools, and abortion
providers or an affiliate of an abortion provider (Texas Government
Code, Chapter 2272).
(6) Statements containing the word "including" reference
content that must be mastered, while those containing the phrase "such
as" are intended as possible illustrative examples.
(7) Students should first seek guidance in the area
of health from a parent or legal guardian.
(c) Knowledge and skills.
(1) Physical health and hygiene--personal health and
hygiene. The student understands health literacy, preventative health
behaviors, and how to access and evaluate health care information
to make informed decisions. The student is expected to:
(A) analyze the cost, availability, and accessibility
of health care services;
(B) analyze methods of overcoming barriers related
to solving health problems; and
(C) analyze the influence of laws, policies, and practices,
including those related to disease prevention, on health-related issues.
(2) Mental health and wellness--social and emotional
health. The student identifies and applies strategies to develop socio-emotional
health, self-regulation, and healthy relationships. The student is
expected to:
(A) evaluate positive and negative effects of various
relationships on physical, emotional, and social health;
(B) apply communication skills that demonstrate consideration
and respect for individual differences and perspectives; and
(C) evaluate the effectiveness of conflict resolution
techniques in various situations.
(3) Mental health and wellness--developing a healthy
self-concept. The student develops the capacity for self-assessment
and evaluation, goal setting, and decision making in order to develop
a healthy self-concept. The student is expected to describe how internal
and external factors influence self-esteem.
Cont'd... |
