Yesterday Governor Jim Doyle signed Wisconsin's new Healthy Youth Act into law, including provisions for implementing comprehensive sex education programs into any school with an instructional program in human growth and development. School boards will no longer be able to implement abstinence-only instructional programs, but may now opt out of the human growth and development curriculm altogether, provided they alert parents.
“Throughout my career, I’ve worked really hard to make sure every single kid in Wisconsin can reach their highest potential,” Governor Doyle said (via wisgov.state.wi.us) at the signing ceremony. “Today I am pleased to sign the Healthy Youth Act, which gives every Wisconsin teen the tools they need to make healthy and responsible life decisions.
Assembly Bill 458 updates Wisconsin's education standards, calling for protections against instructional methods and materials that "promote bias against pupils of any race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic or cultural background, or against sexually active pupils of children with disabilities" and also
requires that the program provide medically accurate information and, when age appropriate, address all of the following:
1) communication between the pupil and the pupil’s parents or guardians about sexuality;
2) reproductive and sexual anatomy and physiology;
3) puberty, pregnancy, parenting, body image, and gender stereotypes;
4) skills to make responsible decisions about sexuality and sexual behavior throughout the pupil’s life span;
5) the benefits of and reasons for abstaining from sexual activity;
6) the health benefits, side effects, and proper use of contraceptives and barrier methods approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections;
7) methods for developing healthy life skills, including setting goals, responsible decision making, communication, and stress management;
8) how alcohol or drug use affects responsible decision making; and
9) the impact of media and peer messages on thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to sexuality.
The bill requires each school board providing these instructional programs in human growth and development to annually provide parents or guardians of each pupil with an outline of the curriculum, or, if the school board does not elect to provide these programs, to send home an annual statement of notification to parents and guardians indicating that "the school board is not providing any human
growth and development instruction to pupils enrolled in the school district" despite being encouraged to do so by state statute.
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