Bill Text: VA HB1023 | 2022 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Family life education curricula, certain; optional instruction on human trafficking of children.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-1)
Status: (Passed) 2022-04-11 - Governor: Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0459) [HB1023 Detail]
Download: Virginia-2022-HB1023-Enrolled.html
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§22.1-207.1 and 22.1-207.1:1 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§22.1-207.1. Family life education.
A. As used in this section, "abstinence education" means an educational or motivational component that has as its exclusive purpose teaching the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by teenagers' abstaining from sexual activity before marriage.
B. The Board of Education shall develop Standards of Learning and curriculum guidelines for a comprehensive, sequential family life education curriculum in grades kindergarten through 12. Such curriculum guidelines shall include instruction as appropriate for the age of the student in family living and community relationships; the benefits, challenges, responsibilities, and value of marriage for men, women, children, and communities; the value of family relationships; abstinence education; the value of postponing sexual activity; the benefits of adoption as a positive choice in the event of an unwanted pregnancy; human sexuality; human reproduction; the prevention of human trafficking, including the human trafficking of children; dating violence, the characteristics of abusive relationships, steps to take to deter sexual assault, the availability of counseling and legal resources, and, in the event of such sexual assault, the importance of immediate medical attention and advice, as well as the requirements of the law; the etiology, prevention, and effects of sexually transmitted diseases; and mental health education and awareness.
C. All such instruction shall be designed to promote parental involvement, foster positive self-concepts, and provide mechanisms for coping with peer pressure and the stresses of modern living according to the students' developmental stages and abilities. The Board shall also establish requirements for appropriate training for teachers of family life education, which shall include training in instructional elements to support the various curriculum components.
D. Each school board shall conduct a review of its family life education curricula at least once every seven years, shall evaluate whether such curricula reflect contemporary community standards, and shall revise such curricula if necessary.
§22.1-207.1:1. Family life education; certain curricula and Standards of Learning.
A. Any family life education curriculum offered by a local
school division shall require the Standards of Learning objectives related to
dating violence and the characteristics of abusive relationships to be taught
at least once in middle school and at least twice in high school, as described
in the Board of Education's Board's family life education
guidelines.
B. Any high school family life education curriculum offered by a local school division shall incorporate age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on (i) the prevention of dating violence, domestic abuse, sexual harassment, including sexual harassment using electronic means, sexual violence, and human trafficking and (ii) the law and meaning of consent. Such age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the prevention of sexual violence may include instruction that increases student awareness of the fact that consent is required before sexual activity.
C. Any family life education curriculum offered in any elementary school, middle school, or high school shall incorporate age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the importance of the personal privacy and personal boundaries of other individuals and tools for a student to use to ensure that he respects the personal privacy and personal boundaries of other individuals.
D. Any family life education curriculum offered by a local school division shall incorporate age-appropriate elements of effective and evidence-based programs on the harmful physical and emotional effects of female genital mutilation; associated criminal penalties; and the rights of the victim, including any civil action pursuant to §8.01-42.5.
E. Any family life education curriculum offered by a local
school division may incorporate age-appropriate elements of effective and
evidence-based programs on the prevention, recognition, and awareness of child
abduction, child abuse, child sexual exploitation, and child sexual
abuse, and, in any such curriculum offered in high school, human trafficking
of children.