Bill Text: NJ A3952 | 2016-2017 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires school districts to provide information on affirmative consent standard as part of core curriculum content standards.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-06-20 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Education Committee [A3952 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2016-A3952-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman REED GUSCIORA
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
Requires school districts to provide information on affirmative consent standard as part of core curriculum content standards.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning public school education on the affirmative consent standard and supplementing chapter 35 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Each school district shall incorporate information on the affirmative consent standard into the health education curriculum for students in grades 9 through 12 as part of the district's implementation of the Core Curriculum Content Standards in Comprehensive Health and Physical Education. The instruction shall be age-appropriate and shall include the information described in subsection b. of this section.
b. As used in this section, "affirmative consent" means affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity. It is the responsibility of each person involved in the sexual activity to ensure that the person has the affirmative consent of the other or others to engage in the sexual activity. Lack of protest or resistance does not mean consent, nor does silence mean consent. Affirmative consent must be ongoing throughout a sexual activity and can be revoked at any time. The existence of a dating relationship between the persons involved, or the fact of past sexual relations between them, should never by itself be assumed to be an indicator of consent.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall first apply to the 2017-2018 school year.
STATEMENT
This bill requires school districts, beginning with the 2017-2018 school year, to provide age-appropriate information on the affirmative consent standard to students in grades nine through twelve. The information will be incorporated into the health education curriculum as part of the district's implementation of the Core Curriculum Content Standards in Comprehensive Health and Physical Education.
Under the bill, the instruction provided to students on the affirmative consent standard will include the following information: "Affirmative consent" means affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity. It is the responsibility of each person involved in the sexual activity to ensure that the person has the affirmative consent of the other or others to engage in the sexual activity. Lack of protest or resistance does not mean consent, nor does silence mean consent. Affirmative consent must be ongoing throughout a sexual activity and can be revoked at any time. The existence of a dating relationship between the persons involved, or the fact of past sexual relations between them, should never by itself be assumed to be an indicator of consent.
