Bill Text: CA SB1300 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Pupils: teen dating violence prevention.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2010-06-30 - Set, first hearing. Failed passage in committee. [SB1300 Detail]
Download: California-2009-SB1300-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1300 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 1, 2010
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 17, 2010
INTRODUCED BY Senator Correa
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
An act to add Section 51230 to, and to add Article 3.7 (commencing
with Section 32230) to Chapter 2 of Part 19 of Division 1 of Title 1
of, the Education Code, relating to pupils.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1300, as amended, Correa. Pupils: teen dating violence
prevention.
Existing law requires a school district that provides instruction
to pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to provide an adopted course
of study to those pupils, as specified. Existing law requires the
State Board of Education to adopt content standards in certain
curriculum areas.
This bill would authorize a school district to provide teen dating
violence prevention education consisting of age-appropriate
instruction, as developed by the state board pursuant to the bill, as
part of the sexual health and health education program it provides
to pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive. The bill would authorize a
school district to use school district personnel or outside
consultants who are trained in the appropriate courses to provide
this additional instruction. The bill would specify the required
content and criteria for this additional instruction and any
associated materials if a school district elects to provide it. The
bill would provide that a parent or guardian of a pupil has the right
to excuse his or her child from all or part of the teen dating
violence prevention education and any assessments related to it, and
would prescribe the procedure for a parent or guardian to exercise
that right.
The bill would require the state board to incorporate teen dating
violence and sexual violence curriculum into the health curriculum
framework at its next revision, as specified.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 3.7 (commencing with Section 32230) is added to
Chapter 2 of Part 19 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code,
to read:
Article 3.7. Teen Dating Violence Prevention
32230. (a) This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the
California Teen Dating Violence Prevention Education Act.
(b) The purposes of this chapter are as follows:
(1) To encourage a pupil to develop healthy relationships and to
recognize dating violence warning signs and characteristics of
healthy relationships.
(2) To provide a pupil with the knowledge, skills, services, and
information to prevent and respond to teen dating violence.
32231. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Teen dating violence is a pattern of actual or threatened acts
of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, perpetrated by an
individual, acting alone or in concert with one or more persons,
against a current or former dating partner who is an adolescent.
(b) Abuse may include insults, coercion, social sabotage, sexual
harassment, threats, Internet abuse or cyber bullying, and acts of
physical or sexual abuse.
(c) Dating violence crosses racial, cultural, gender, sexual
orientation, gender identity, and socioeconomic lines.
(d) Teen dating violence and sexual assault are leading causes of
truancy and are associated with poor academic performance.
(e) Victims of teen dating violence are more likely to bring a
weapon onto school grounds.
(f) Teen perpetrators of dating violence are more likely to batter
their intimate partners as adults.
(g) Teen dating violence and sexual assault are public health
issues that affect the quality of life of pupils and the safety of
school campuses.
32232. For purposes of this article, the following definitions
apply:
(a) "Abuse of property" means damaging or destroying another
person's property.
(b) "Dating partner" means any person involved in an intimate
association with another person primarily characterized by the
expectation of affectionate involvement whether casual, serious, or
long term.
(c) "Healthy relationship" means an equal relationship free from
abusive, violent, and controlling behavior where each person respects
the other's right to have his or her own opinions, friends, and
activities, and in which each person in the relationship can openly
communicate with the other person.
(d) "Inappropriate sexual behavior" means any unwanted sexual
contact including sexual battery, touching, kissing, caressing, and
rubbing.
(e) "Internet abuse" or "cyber bullying" means the use of verbal
or psychological abuse or threats using electronic means including
cell phone texting, e-mail, Internet Web postings, blogs, or social
networking sites.
(f) "Nonverbal abuse" means the use of intimidation, getting peers
to threaten or intimidate, using electronic devices such as pagers
and cell phones to harass, threaten or intimidate, or the use of
nonwritten materials to harass, threaten, or intimidate.
(g) "Obscene materials" means sexually explicit notes, graffiti,
drawings, photos, or any other material that is made to be or is
otherwise presented in a sexually explicit nature.
(h) "Physical abuse" means shaking, arm-twisting, pushing,
hitting, kicking, slapping, choking, hair pulling, physical
intimidation, or any behavior that may result in nonaccidental
injury.
(i) "Physical intimidation" means restraining someone, blocking
movements or exits, punching walls, or throwing things.
(j) "Reproductive control" means forms of coercion that interfere
with a person's ability to control his or her reproductive life such
as intentionally exposing a partner to sexually transmitted
infections, a partner attempting to impregnate a young woman against
her will, a partner intentionally interfering with birth control
methods, or a partner threatening or acting violent if she or he does
not comply with the perpetrator's wishes regarding contraception or
the decision whether to terminate or continue a pregnancy.
(k) "Sexual assault" means forced or nonconsensual sexual contact,
including rape, attempted rape, forced oral or anal copulation, or
genital contact.
(l) "Sexual harassment" means any unwanted sexual attention,
including catcalls, verbal or written comments about a person's body
or sexual conduct, sexual gestures, or spreading sexual gossip or
graffiti.
(m) "Sexual violence" means sexual assault, sexual abuse, or
sexual stalking of a minor child or teenager, including sexual
violence committed by perpetrators who are strangers to the victim
and by perpetrators who are known by, or related by blood or marriage
to, the victim. "Sexual violence" can involve sexual harassment,
inappropriate sexual behavior, and sexual assault.
(n) "Stalking" means willfully and repeatedly following or
harassing another person or making a threat with the intent to place
that person in fear for his or her safety, or the safety of his or
her family.
(o) "Teen dating violence" means a pattern of behavior where a
person uses threats of physical abuse or actual physical abuse,
sexual abuse, verbal abuse, or emotional abuse to control his or her
current or former dating partner and one or both of the partners is a
teenager. "Teen dating violence" can include verbal abuse, written
materials, use of weapons, the destruction of property, stalking,
Internet abuse or cyber bullying, and other forms of intimidation.
(p) "Use of weapons" means brandishing or using a weapon to
intimidate or injure another person.
(q) "Verbal abuse" means the use of threats, put-downs,
name-calling, insults, offensive language, sexually explicit or
homophobic language, screaming, or yelling.
(r) "Written materials" means threatening notes, graffiti
drawings, photos, obscene materials, or any other printed or written
expressions of threat.
32233. (a) A school district may provide teen dating violence
prevention education consisting of age-appropriate instruction, as
developed by the state board pursuant to Section 51230, as part of
the sexual health and health education program it provides to pupils
in grades 7 to 12, inclusive. A school district may use school
district personnel or outside consultants who are trained in the
appropriate courses to provide this additional instruction.
(b) A school district that elects to offer teen dating violence
prevention education pursuant to this section shall include
instruction and materials regarding teen dating violence and sexual
violence that include methods for doing all of the following:
(1) Recognizing what constitutes a healthy relationship.
(2) Identifying teen dating violence, verbal abuse, nonverbal
abuse, physical intimidation, stalking, physical abuse, inappropriate
sexual behavior, sexual harassment, sexual violence, sexual assault,
and Internet abuse and cyber bullying.
(3) Locating sources for legal, medical, mental health, and other
supportive services regarding teen dating violence.
(c) A school district that elects to offer teen dating violence
prevention education pursuant to this section shall satisfy all of
the following criteria:
(1) Instruction and materials shall be age appropriate.
(2) All factual information presented shall be medically accurate
and objective.
(3) Instruction shall be made available on an equal basis to a
pupil who is an English learner, consistent with the existing
curriculum and alternative options for an English learner as
otherwise provided in this code.
(4) Instruction and materials shall be appropriate for use with
pupils of all races, genders, sexual orientations, gender identities,
and ethnic and cultural backgrounds and with pupils with
disabilities.
(5) Instruction and materials shall be accessible to pupils with
disabilities, including, but not limited to, the provision of a
modified curriculum, materials and instruction in alternative
formats, and auxiliary aids.
(6) Instruction and materials shall encourage a pupil to
communicate with his or her parents or guardians about human
sexuality, and should provide the skills to initiate those
discussions.
(7) Instruction and materials shall teach respect for marriage and
committed relationships that are voluntary, healthy, and safe.
(8) Instruction and materials shall teach pupils the skills to
recognize and aspire to healthy, respectful relationships including
all of the following:
(A) Communication skills that help them discuss and resolve
conflicts within intimate relationships with respect and nonviolence.
(B) Critical thinking skills.
(C) Skills to negotiate with an intimate partner.
(D) Skills for pupils to recognize and understand their own
individual boundaries, and recognize and respect the boundaries of
others.
(9) Instruction and materials shall not teach or promote religious
doctrine.
(10) Instruction and materials shall not reflect or promote bias
against any person on the basis of any category protected by Section
220.
32234. It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage pupils to
communicate with their parents or guardians about human sexuality
and teen dating violence and to respect the rights of parents or
guardians to supervise their children's education on these subjects.
The Legislature intends to create a streamlined process to make it
easier for parents and guardians to review materials and evaluation
tools related to teen dating violence prevention education, and, if
they wish, to excuse their children from participation in all or part
of that instruction or evaluation. The Legislature recognizes that
while parents and guardians overwhelmingly support medically
accurate, comprehensive sex education, parents and guardians have the
ultimate responsibility for imparting values regarding human
sexuality to their children. A parent or guardian of a pupil has the
right to excuse his or her child from all or part of teen dating
violence prevention education, and assessments related to that
education, as follows:
(a) At the beginning of each school year, or, for a pupil who
enrolls in a school after the beginning of the school year, at the
time of that pupil's enrollment, each school district that provides
teen dating violence prevention education pursuant to this article
shall notify the parent or guardian of each pupil about instruction
in teen dating violence prevention education and research on pupil
health behaviors and risks planned for the coming year. The notice
shall do all of the following:
(1) Advise the parent or guardian that written and audiovisual
educational materials used in comprehensive teen dating violence
prevention education are available for inspection.
(2) Advise the parent or guardian whether the teen dating violence
prevention education will be taught by school district personnel or
by outside consultants. A school district may provide teen dating
violence prevention education, to be taught by outside consultants,
and may hold an assembly to deliver teen dating violence prevention
education by guest speakers, but if it elects to provide teen dating
violence prevention education in either of these manners, the notice
shall include the date of the instruction, the name of the
organization or affiliation of each guest speaker, and information
stating the right of the parent or guardian to request a
copy of this section. If arrangements for this instruction are made
after the beginning of the school year, notice shall be made by mail
or another commonly used method of notification, no fewer than 14
days before the instruction is delivered. a copy of
this section.
(3) Include information explaining the parent's or guardian's
right to request a copy of this chapter.
(4) Advise the parent or guardian that the parent or guardian may
request in writing that his or her child not receive teen dating
violence prevention education.
(5) Upon written request to the school principal, a parent or
legal guardian of a pupil less than 18 years of age, within a
reasonable period of time after the request is made, shall be
permitted to examine the teen dating violence education program
instructional materials at the school in which his or her child is
enrolled.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 51513, anonymous, voluntary, and
confidential research and evaluation tools to measure pupils' health
behaviors and risks, including questionnaires and surveys containing
age-appropriate questions about the pupil's attitudes concerning teen
dating violence, may be administered to any pupil in grades 7 to 12,
inclusive, if the parent or guardian is notified in writing that
this questionnaire or survey is to be administered and the pupil's
parent or guardian is given the opportunity to review the
questionnaire or survey and to request in writing that his or her
child not participate.
(c) The use of outside consultants or guest speakers as described
in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) is within the discretion of the
school district.
(d) A pupil may not attend any class in teen dating violence
prevention education, or participate in any anonymous, voluntary, and
confidential questionnaire or survey on pupil health behaviors and
risks, if the school has received a written request from the pupil's
parent or guardian excusing the pupil from participation.
(e) A pupil may not be subject to disciplinary action, academic
penalty, or other sanction if the pupil's parent or guardian declines
to permit the pupil to receive teen dating violence prevention
education or to participate in anonymous, voluntary, and confidential
questionnaires or surveys on pupil health behaviors and risks.
(f) While teen dating violence prevention education or an
anonymous, voluntary, and confidential questionnaire or survey on
pupil health behaviors and risks is being administered, an
alternative educational activity shall be made available to pupils
whose parents or guardians have requested that they not receive the
instruction or participate in the questionnaire or survey.
SEC. 2. Section 51230 is added to the Education Code, to read:
51230. (a) The state board shall incorporate teen dating violence
and sexual violence curriculum into the health curriculum framework
at its next revision.
(b) The state board shall consult with the State Department of
Public Health, the Attorney General, and domestic violence and sexual
assault prevention advocates for advice on the development of
grade-level concepts and content guidelines to be incorporated into
the sexual health and health education program currently taught at
secondary schools to pupils in any of grades 7 to 12, inclusive.
Materials produced pursuant to this subdivision shall focus on
educating pupils regarding teen dating violence, sexual violence, and
healthy relationships.
(1) Teen dating violence and sexual violence education shall
include, but is not limited to, defining teen dating violence and
sexual violence, and recognizing teen dating violence warning signs,
and characteristics of healthy relationships, and information about
legal, medical, and mental health services.
(2) The curriculum shall focus on educating pupils regarding teen
dating violence and sexual violence.
(3) The curriculum shall be developed through interagency
collaborations with advocates who work in the areas of domestic
violence, teen dating violence, and sexual violence.
(c) The state board shall incorporate teen dating violence
prevention education into the sexual health and health education
program currently taught at secondary schools to pupils in any of
grades 7 to 12, inclusive. Teen dating violence prevention education
shall be an independent section in the health curriculum.
(d) For purposes of this section, teen dating violence, sexual
violence, and healthy relationships have the same meaning as
specified in Section 32232.
