Bill Text: HI SR11 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Sexuality Health Education

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-06 - Referred to EDU/HTH, WAM. [SR11 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2014-SR11-Introduced.html

---

THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	11
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2014
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the board of education and the department of education to report on the status of sexuality health education programs in public schools and the feasibility of developing a UNIFORM, mandatory sexuality health education program for all public school students.

 

 

     WHEREAS, under the Hawaii State Constitution, the State shall provide for the establishment, support, and control of a statewide system of public schools free from sectarian control, a state university, public libraries, and such other institutions as may be deemed desirable, including physical facilities therefor; and

 

     WHEREAS, the mission of the Board of Education is to promote excellence and equity in Hawaii's public schools and enable all students to meet their own unique and varied potentials; and

 

     WHEREAS, the mission of the Department of Education is to serve the community by developing the academic achievement, character, and social-emotional well-being of students to the fullest potential and to work with partners, families, and communities to ensure that all students reach their aspirations from early learning through college, career, and citizenship; and

 

     WHEREAS, section 321-11.1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, requires state-funded sexuality health education to be medically accurate and age appropriate, and include education on abstinence, contraception, and methods of disease and pregnancy prevention; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii's teen pregnancy rate is the twelfth highest in the nation; and

 

     WHEREAS, teen childbearing costs Hawaii taxpayers $37,000,000 per year, seventy-one percent of which are state and local costs; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii has historically high rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, such as chlamydia; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii's high school students report the lowest percentage of condom use of any state in the nation; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to the Hawaii Adolescent Reproductive Health Survey of 2012, a survey of community attitudes toward sexuality health education in Hawaii, ninety-seven percent of survey participants reported that it was important or very important to have sexuality health education as part of the school's curriculum; and

 

     WHEREAS, education is key to reducing the number of cases of sexually transmitted disease and the number of teen pregnancies and to building stronger families and a healthier future; and

 

     WHEREAS, it is the intent of the Legislature to utilize all available information to determine how to ensure that the youth of Hawaii have the skills and tools necessary to make healthy and responsible decisions with regard to their sexual and reproductive health, through programs in the public school system or through other means; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2014, that the Board of Education and Department of Education are requested to report to the Legislature on the status of sex education programs in public schools and the feasibility of developing a uniform, mandatory sexuality health education program for all public school students that meets the requirements of section 321-11.1, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Education and Department of Education are requested to determine the following:

 

     (1)  Feasibility of including, as part of the Department of Education's sexuality health education program, social-emotional issues relating to sexuality, including the development of:

 

     (A)  Relationships and communication skills to form healthy relationships that are based on mutual respect and affection and that are free from violence, coercion, and intimidation;

 

     (B)  Skills in critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, and stress management to help students make healthy decisions about sexuality and relationships; and

 

     (C)  Communication skills to enable students to communicate with their parents, guardians, and other trusted adults about sexuality and intimate relations;

 

     (2)  Feasibility of establishing minimum training standards for sexuality health education teachers;

 

     (3)  Feasibility of making sexuality health education curricula available for public review;

 

     (4)  Feasibility of establishing more effective monitoring and oversight of the sexuality health education program; and

 

     (5)  Effectiveness of sexuality health education programs used throughout the State, particularly with respect to how these programs address high risk behaviors that result in teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, including:

 

     (A)  Information on and the process for determining the content of curricula and programs, specific details on the extent of use by and participation of public schools and students; and

 

     (B)  Identification of areas of potential improvement, including how to more effectively address the State's high rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Education and Department of Education are requested to report their findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2015; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Education, Superintendent of Education, and Director of Health.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Sexuality Health Education