Texas Administrative Code › Title 19 - EDUCATION › Part 2 - TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY › Chapter 115 - TEXAS ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS FOR HEALTH EDUCATION › Subchapter B - MIDDLE SCHOOL › Section 115.26 - Grade 6, Adopted 2020

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Introduction.
(1) The goal of health education is to
				  provide instruction that allows youth to develop and sustain health-promoting
				  behaviors throughout their lives. The understanding and application of these
				  standards will allow students the ability to gather, interpret, and understand
				  health information; achieve health literacy; and adapt to the ever-evolving
				  science of health. The health education knowledge and skills should be
				  presented to students in a positive manner to support the development of a
				  healthy self-concept and responsible decision making. The standards will help
				  students reinforce, foster, and apply positive character traits.
(2) There are essential skills that repeat
				  throughout the six strands and embody the interconnection of health literacy.
				  These skills include decision making, problem solving, goal setting,
				  maintaining healthy relationships with self and others, seeking help and
				  support, and recognizing various influences on health such as social,
				  environmental, media, and genetic. These skills, developed early on and
				  reinforced throughout a student's education, will foster mastery of health
				  concepts. Health class educators are encouraged to partner with school
				  counselors where available to schedule time for them to deliver classroom
				  guidance lessons to help teach these essential competencies. In addition, areas
				  in the standards related to abuse, neglect, violence, loss, grief, trauma, and
				  suicide may directly affect some students in the classroom. Should the educator
				  recognize signs of discomfort with instruction in these areas, students should
				  be referred to the appropriate resource, identified ahead of such instruction,
				  for additional help and support.
(3) Students gain an understanding of health
				  information and skills through six strands: physical health and hygiene; mental
				  health and wellness; healthy eating and physical activity; injury and violence
				  prevention and safety; alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; and reproductive and
				  sexual health.
(A) Physical health and
				  hygiene education helps to prepare students for improved lifelong health
				  outcomes. Learning about body systems lays the foundation for personal health
				  and hygiene. Health literacy and preventative behaviors empower students to
				  make informed choices to support self, family, and community.
(B) The mental health and wellness strand
				  recognizes that the knowledge and skills necessary to manage emotions,
				  reactions, and relationships are essential to reaching one's full potential.
				  Students gain knowledge about social and emotional health, including developing
				  a healthy self-concept, understanding risk and protective factors, and
				  identifying and managing mental health and wellness concerns. In the early
				  grades, students develop fluency around emotions and self-regulation and
				  understand the relationship between feelings, thoughts, and behavior. In
				  subsequent grades, students learn and practice appropriate ways to solve
				  interpersonal conflicts, work to develop a positive self-image, and develop
				  healthy self-management skills.
(C)
				  The healthy eating and physical activity strand addresses the importance of
				  nutrition and physical activity to support a healthy lifestyle. Students apply
				  critical-thinking and decision-making skills to make positive health choices.
				  Students learn about essential nutrients, food groups, portion control,
				  government nutritional recommendations, and the health benefits of being
				  physically active. Students evaluate the connection between physical activity
				  and nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases.
(D) By focusing on injury and violence
				  prevention and safety, the standards promote student well-being and awareness
				  of dangerous situations. Supporting student well-being and providing
				  instruction in digital citizenship, bullying prevention, first aid, and
				  identification of safe and unsafe situations creates empowered and educated
				  students who are able to make decisions that keep themselves and others safe.
				  Beginning in Kindergarten and continuing through high school, students gain
				  knowledge and skills to support safety and wellness at school, at home, online,
				  and in the community.
(E) The
				  standards under the alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs strand focus on a number
				  of protective factors that develop empowered students who are able to make
				  better-informed decisions, including understanding the impact of substance use
				  on physical, mental, and social health. Through this strand, students learn key
				  concepts about alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, including the use, misuse,
				  and physiological effects; short- and long-term impacts on health; treatment;
				  risk and protective factors; and prevention. These concepts introduce healthy
				  alternatives and ways for students to ask for and seek out help from parents
				  and other trusted adults.
(F)
				  Beginning in Grade 4, students learn about changes associated with adolescent
				  development in the reproductive and sexual health strand. In subsequent grade
				  levels, students identify the purpose of these changes and their role in
				  fertilization and reproduction. Students learn the characteristics of healthy
				  and unhealthy relationships and how to use communication and refusal skills to
				  set personal boundaries in dating/romantic relationships. Students also
				  identify how to respond to sexual harassment and abuse.
(4) An integral part of health education
				  involves educators being aware of state laws relevant to human sexuality
				  instruction. These laws include affirming:
(A) a local school district's control over
				  the provision of human sexuality instruction to ensure that local community
				  values are reflected in that instruction (Texas Education Code (TEC),
				  §28.004(e)-(h));
(B) the right
				  of a parent or legal guardian to be informed of the provision of human
				  sexuality instruction to their child and review the content of that instruction
				  (TEC, §
												28.004(i)-(j)
				  );
(C) the right of a parent or
				  legal guardian to remove their child from any portion of human sexuality
				  instruction without penalty to the child (TEC, §
												28.004(i)
				  );
(D) the centrality of abstinence
				  education in any human sexuality curriculum (TEC, §
												28.004(e)
				  ); and
(E) the right of a parent or
				  legal guardian to be informed of and consent to an abortion performed on their
				  pregnant child (with judicially authorized or medical emergency exceptions)
				  (Texas Family Code, Chapter 33).
(5) Educators also should be aware of and
				  abide by the statutory prohibition on taxpayer resource transactions between
				  state governmental entities, including public schools, and abortion providers
				  or an affiliate of an abortion provider (Texas Government Code, Chapter
				  2272).
(6) Statements containing
				  the word "including" reference content that must be mastered, while those
				  containing the phrase "such as" are intended as possible illustrative
				  examples.
(7) Students should first
				  seek guidance in the area of health from a parent or legal guardian.