Research shows that medically accurate, age-appropriate health education helps young people to stay healthy – which can only enhance their ability to learn [1]. Currently, these classes are available to many students in Massachusetts schools, covering critical topics such as nutrition, mental health, safety, substance abuse, violence prevention, and sexual health [2].

Some Massachusetts public school districts also provide excellent coverage of sexual health as part of these health education classes, while others offer little to no coverage of the topic. Sexual health units in health education courses teach the benefits of abstinence while also providing vital information on contraception and prevention of pregnancy and disease [3]. These topics are especially critical to health education's overall goal of improving educational achievement, given that teen pregnancy is the most common factor when young women drop out of school [4].

In 1993, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the Commonwealth must provide an adequate education for those enrolled in the public schools. It further defined "adequacy" by requiring that students possess specific capabilities, including "sufficient self-knowledge and knowledge of his or her mental and physical wellness" [4]. In response to this ruling, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE, formerly the Department of Education or DOE) created a science-based health education framework [5].

3. Bill H.1063: An Act relative to healthy youth; by Rep. O'Day, 2011, accessed June 22, 2011; and Bill S.190: An Act relative to healthy youth; by Sen. Clark, 2011, accessed June 22, 2011.

4.McDuffy v. Secretary of the Executive Office of Education, 415 Mass. 545, 618 (1993).