How to Share Your Feedback: Massachusetts Health Education Framework

The 2023 Health and Physical Education Curriculum Framework is open for public comment for 60 days.

With the Healey-Driscoll Administration’s announcement of a new framework for comprehensive health and physical education in Massachusetts public schools comes an exciting opportunity for you to share your feedback. But, the public comment period will close on August 28, 2023—take action today!

This new educational framework is a crucial step toward achieving our mission of ending sexual violence. It provides guidelines for a curriculum that is medically-accurate, age-appropriate, LGBTQ+ inclusive, and consent-based. Thirty years of research show that sex education prevents sexual violence, helps young people develop healthy relationships and respect for sexual diversity, improves their social-emotional learning, and increases their media literacy around issues of sex, gender, and consent.

What is a “public comment period”?  It is when a proposed rule or framework is released so that the public can share their input before the final draft is approved for implementation. We have less than 60 days to show our support for the curriculum framework, as the public comment period will close on August 28, 2023.  

After that, all comments will be collected for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) to revise the framework before submitting the draft to the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) for a final vote.  

Your comments during this time are critical to ensuring that the most informed version of the curriculum reaches the BESE. 

Here’s how to comment:

1. Read the draft of the framework.

2. Brainstorm ways you’d like to share your support for the framework. Feel free to rely on the Key Themes listed below, or download the Public Comment Toolkit circulated by the Healthy Youth Act Coalition. 

TIP #1: Your story matters. Be sure to use your own experiences to inform your comments, as that will be most impactful for the DESE reviewers. Keep in mind that your comments, while submitted anonymously, can be used in public documents moving forward.

TIP #2: If you have any additional revisions or suggestions about the framework, don’t hesitate to share your thoughts.
 

3. Finally, submit your comments to the Public Comment Survey.

4. If you would prefer not to give your feedback through the survey, here are two alternative ways to share your comments:

   - Email to Kristen McKinnon at chpef@mass.gov
   - Mail to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Attention: Kristen McKinnon, 75 Pleasant Street, Malden, MA 02131

Key Themes for Public Comments^*

Consent/Boundaries

• Understanding and communicating about consent is necessary for all healthy relationships, not just ones that involve sexual activity. 
• While the legal age of consent in Massachusetts is 16, some young people in the Commonwealth begin exploring sexual activity before then. Without consent-based healthy relationship education, young people are at much greater risk of being abused or being abusive. 
• When we teach the principles of consent in younger grades, it builds a stronger culture of consent as those young people grow up. 
• Everyone benefits when education environments teach the importance of bodily autonomy as a right belonging to everyone, regardless of identity, background, or circumstance. 

Healthy Relationships

• Starting the discussion of bullying and what it means to respect boundaries at a young age is a great way to provide students with non-violent problem solving and conflict resolution skills.
• The framework includes how stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination can impact relationships, as well as strategies for how to address those factors. 
• Students will be safer when they know what warning signs to look out for in relationships and that their teachers, administrators, and families are all available as resources to help them navigate their situation.

LGBTQ+ Inclusivity

• The framework and the access to holistic education it supports are vital for the well-being of all young people, but they are necessary for the survival of youth who identify as LGBTQ+. 32% of Massachusetts LGBTQ+ youth reported experiencing threat or harm based on gender identity or sexual orientation in 2021 alone. 
• When young people have the chance to explore their identities in an affirming and inclusive environment, all students perform better.  We see this in academic metrics as well as mental health indicators. Research shows that health education that recognizes and respects all gender identities supports all students and their communities.

Trauma-Informed Education

• I am heartened by DESE’s mindfulness toward young survivors in setting up “a more deliberate integration of skills for personal safety, maintaining personal boundaries, and child sexual abuse prevention through a trauma-informed lens.”
• The standards help students to understand that abuse is never their fault and that trauma is something that people may experience but does not define who they are. This can be empowering to young people who have experienced sexual violence.

This curriculum framework is deeply tied to BARCC’s mission and will impact the safety of generations of students to come, giving them access to information they need to make informed decisions about their lives.

It is also imperative for you, as a member of the BARCC community, to provide your support. The public comment process is a critical way to ensure that Massachusetts students will receive health education that is inclusive and accurate.

We urge you to take this opportunity to contribute to this meaningful stride toward preventing sexual violence.  Don’t miss your chance to make your voice heard! If you have any questions about the best ways to get involved, reach out to Jennifer Yoo, Manager of External Affairs at communications@barcc.org.

*Gathered through partnership with the Healthy Youth Act Coalition.