The Healthy Youth Act

The Healthy Youth Act of 2009 was enacted as law by the North Carolina General Assembly to be implemented in the 2010-2011 school year. The Healthy Youth Act requires Reproductive Health and Safety Education for students in 7th through 9th grades, while allowing parents the option to withdraw their youth from instruction. The curriculum requires that students are provided with safer-sex and safety skill building information, while maintaining that abstinence is the safest choice. The Healthy Youth Act is based on research that has proven the effectiveness of sexuality education that provides medically accurate information while promoting abstinence. According to a 2008 study by the UNC School of Public Health and Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Coalition of North Carolina Parent Opinion Survey, over 90% of parents of public school children thought sexuality education should be taught in North Carolina public schools.

Western North Carolina AIDS Project is working to support the implementation of the Healthy Youth Act in two specific ways.

First, WNCAP initiated a Healthy Youth Act Coalition composed of educators, community organizations and stakeholders. The Coalition’s primary goal is to support Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Schools in the implementation phase of this new legislation.

Second, WNCAP has completed an assessment of the implementation of the Healthy Youth Act in the outlying Western North Carolina school districts within our service area. (Click here to review the Executive Summary)

What can you do??

-Raise Awareness about the importance of the Healthy Youth Act. According to the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Study, 51% of all North Carolina high school students had experienced sexual intercourse.

-Check in with your local school district on how they are implementing the Healthy Youth Act. Tell the school board that you support full implementation of this important legislation.