2023 New York Laws › EDN - Education › Title 1 - General Provisions › Article 17 - Instruction in Certain Subjects › 804 - Health Education Regarding Mental Health, Alcohol, Drugs, Tobacco Abuse and the Prevention and Detection of Certain Cancers.

§ 804.  Health  education  regarding  mental  health,  alcohol, drugs,
  tobacco abuse and the prevention and detection of certain cancers.    1.
  All  schools shall ensure that their health education programs recognize
  the multiple dimensions of health by including  mental  health  and  the
  relation  of  physical  and  mental  health  so  as  to  enhance student
  understanding, attitudes and behaviors that promote  health,  well-being
  and human dignity.
2. All schools shall include, as an integral part of health education,
  instruction so as to discourage the misuse and abuse of alcohol, tobacco
  and  other drugs and promote attitudes and behavior that enhance health,
  well being, and human dignity.
3. Instruction regarding alcohol, tobacco, and other  drugs  shall  be
  included  in  the  health  education  provided for all elementary school
  pupils and shall be taught by  the  regular  classroom  teachers  or  by
  teachers  certified to teach health education. Such instruction shall be
  designed  according  to  the  needs  and  abilities  of  the  pupils  at
  successive  grade levels with the purpose of developing desirable health
  behavior, attitudes, and knowledge as well as self-reliance and  problem
  solving capacity.
4.  Instruction  regarding  alcohol,  tobacco,  and  other  drugs,  in
  addition to continued health guidance in the junior high  school  grades
  and  the  senior  high  schools, shall be an integral part of a required
  health education course at each of these levels in the secondary schools
  curriculum. Students shall be required to demonstrate knowledge  in  the
  subject area through the use of a test, graded project or report, or any
  other  means  prescribed  by  the  school authorities regarding alcohol,
  drugs, and tobacco. Any such course shall be taught by teachers  holding
  a  certificate  to teach health. Related courses in the secondary school
  curriculum shall be taught in a manner supportive  of  health  education
  regarding  alcohol,  tobacco,  and other drugs. In addition, instruction
  regarding the dangers of driving while under the influence of alcohol or
  drugs shall be an integral part of a required health education course in
  the senior high schools. Such  instruction  shall  be  provided  in  all
  senior  high  schools  whether  or not these schools also provide driver
  education courses.
5. Instruction  regarding  methods  of  prevention  and  detection  of
  certain  cancers,  including  but  not  limited  to  breast cancer, skin
  cancer, testicular cancer and other  cancers  where  certain  preventive
  measures  have  become  generally accepted and certain detection methods
  have  been  adopted  and  recommended  generally  to  the  public.  Such
  instruction  shall  be  an  integral part of a required health education
  course at the senior high school level, in addition to continued  health
  guidance  in  senior  high  schools.  Any such course shall be taught by
  teachers holding a certificate to teach health.
6. a. The  commissioner  may  prescribe  in  regulations  such  health
  education  courses which include instruction regarding alcohol, tobacco,
  and other drugs as the commissioner may deem necessary and desirable for
  the welfare of pupils and the community. The contents may be  varied  to
  meet  the needs of particular school districts, or portions thereof, and
  need not be uniform throughout the state, provided, however, that school
  districts shall utilize  either  the  curriculum  for  health  education
  instruction regarding alcohol, tobacco and other drugs prescribed by the
  commissioner or a course approved by the commissioner in accordance with
  criteria established by the commissioner. The commissioner is authorized
  to  make  recommendations  to  the  board  of regents beginning December
  first, two thousand fourteen and every three years  thereafter  relating
  to   the   modernization   of  such  instruction  required  pursuant  to
  subdivision one of this section, to include the  most  up  to  date  age

  appropriate  information  available  regarding  the  misuse and abuse of
  alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, including but not  limited  to  heroin
  and  opioids.  Such  instruction  shall  include, but not be limited to,
  information regarding drugs and other substances that are more prevalent
  among  school  aged youth. Such recommendations shall be the result of a
  collaboration between the  department,  the  office  of  alcoholism  and
  substance  abuse  services and the department of health. If the board of
  regents adopts such curriculum, the curriculum  requirement  shall  take
  effect no later than the next school year after such curriculum has been
  adopted.
b.  The  commissioner  shall  make available an interpersonal violence
  prevention education package for  grades  kindergarten  through  twelve,
  which  package  may  consist  of  student  pamphlets,  parent pamphlets,
  videotapes and other informative materials to be distributed  to  school
  districts,  and  shall encourage the use of such material as part of the
  health or other related curricula or programs.
c. The regents shall review  the  health  curriculum  requirements  in
  existence  on  the  effective  date of this paragraph for the purpose of
  streamlining such curriculum and  identifying  any  outdated  components
  that  may be eliminated or consolidated in order to ensure that students
  have sufficient time and instruction to develop skills to address issues
  of violence prevention and mental health. To the extent appropriate, the
  regents shall modify the existing curriculum to provide greater focus on
  the development of skills, by no later  than  middle  school,  that  are
  needed to recognize, cope with and address potentially violent incidents
  including  an understanding of student roles in emergency situations and
  other related skills designed  to  reduce  the  threat  of  violence  in
  schools.
7.  School  authorities shall provide the needed facilities, time, and
  place for the instruction set forth herein and  shall  provide  learning
  aids  and  curriculum  resource  materials which contribute to effective
  teaching methods and learning in  health  education  regarding  alcohol,
  tobacco, and other drugs.
8.  All  pre-service  training  programs  in  the state for elementary
  teachers shall include adequate preparation regarding the instruction in
  alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs set forth herein, and no teacher shall
  be licensed except upon satisfactory demonstration of  the  competencies
  included in the institutional proposals approved by the department.
9.  Nothing  contained  in this section shall be deemed to diminish or
  impair the duties of the commissioner with  respect  to  the  continuing
  program  for  critical  health  problems  established  by  chapter seven
  hundred eighty-seven of the laws  of  nineteen  hundred  sixty-seven  as
  amended. The commissioner shall coordinate actions taken under authority
  of  this  section  with the provisions of said chapter as they relate to
  health education in schools, inservice training and  training  programs,
  and curriculum or syllabus development regarding the deleterious effects
  resulting from the use, misuse, and abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and other
  drugs.