What is the Healthy Youth Act?
The Healthy Youth Act (SD. 2178, HD. 3454) will give Massachusetts students the foundation they need and deserve to lead healthy lives. By providing comprehensive sexuality education, focused on consent, schools can help prevent and reduce sexual assault and harassment.
What it does
- Requires school districts that offer sex education to provide medically accurate, age-appropriate information.
- Focuses curriculum on building healthy relationships and helps youth understand consent and boundaries.
- Ensures that material is inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer or questioning, and/or transgender (LGBQ/T) youth.
- Allows parents and guardians to opt their children out from attending offered sexual education classes.
Why it matters
- Comprehensive sex ed that teaches about healthy relationships and consent is key in reducing and preventing sexual assault and harassment and fostering positive health outcomes.
- Including LGBQ/T youth in sex ed curriculum reduces isolation and barriers that contribute to LGBQ/T youth facing higher risk of sexual violence.
- Cultivating open conversations about sexual health and consent can increase the likelihood of youth survivors reaching out for support.
What you can do
Ask your legislators to cosponsor the Healthy Youth Act!
