Guiding Principles

Guiding Principle I

Comprehensive Health Education Teaches Students Fundamental Health Concepts And Skills That Foster Healthy Habits And Behaviors For The Individual And Others Through Sequential And Coordinated Teaching Of Health Education, Physical Education, And Family And Consumer Sciences Education At Each Grade Level, Kindergarten Through Grade 12.

 

Guiding Principle II

Comprehensive health education teaches students to use fundamental health concepts to assess risks, to consider potential consequences and to make health-enhancing decisions.

 

Guiding Principle III

Comprehensive health education teaches skills that assist students to understand and communicate health information clearly for self-management and health promotion.

 

Guiding Principle IV

Comprehensive health education contributes to the capacity of students to work in a positive manner with families, school staff, peers, and community members to enhance personal health and create a safe and supportive environment where individual similarities and differences are acknowledged.

 

Guiding Principle V

Comprehensive health education is strengthened through collaboration and partnerships among all components of the coordinated school health program and other subjects.

Content

Strand 1

Growth And Development (Human Body)

·        List ways an individual can promote organ health.

Physical Activity And Fitness (Fitness/Wellness)

·        Set personal fitness goals based on current skill levels and fitness.

·        Describe the physiological benefits of exercise.

·        Participate in activities that promote physical fitness, decrease sedentary lifestyle, and relieve mental and emotional tension.

·        Describe the purpose and benefits of sports, games, and dance in modern society.

·        Apply skills that increase immediate peak functioning of body systems (exercise, foods, and rest).

·        Relate physical fitness to a positive body image.

Nutrition

·        Describe the relationship between food and future diseases (heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis).

·        Explain how food choices in childhood and adolescence can affect adult health.

·        Explain factors associated with a safe food supply.

Reproduction/Sexuality (Sensitive Issues)

·        Describe the process of fertilization.

·        List ways to avoid contracting/spreading HIV/AIDS and other STDs.

·        Explain the benefits of abstinence, postponing sexual behavior, and defining limits on sexual behavior.

·        Describe behaviors and methods for pregnancy prevention, including abstinence.

·        Describe short and long-term consequences of sexuality-related risk behaviors and identify barriers and supports for healthy decision-making.

·        Define the types of sexually transmitted infections (STDs) including HIV/aids, and how they are spread.

·        Identify sexual discrimination and harassment.

Strand 2

Mental Health

·        Describe the impact that positive thinking can have on one's well being.

·        List personal competencies and skills that correlate these with self-esteem.

·        Identify the behaviors and avenues of support for young people with disordered eating behavior.

Family Life (Family Relationships & Social Behavior)

·        Describe the link between the quality of one's relationships and one's overall health and well being.

·        Recognize personal responsibility for parent-child relationship.

·        Practice good communication skills.

·        Describe ways in which relationships among parents and children change during adolescence, and compare peer and parental influences.

Interpersonal Relationships

·        Recognize the positive contribution of character traits (such as tolerance,

·        Honesty, self-discipline, respectfulness, and kindness) to relationships, the benefit to relationships which include understanding and respecting individual differences, and the detrimental effect of prejudice (such as prejudice on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, class, or religion) on individual relationships and society as a whole.

·        Describe the purpose of dating and acceptable dating attitudes (such as respect) and appropriate conduct.

·        Explain the benefits of abstinence, postponing sexual behavior, and setting limits on sexual behavior.

Strand 3

Disease Prevention And Control (Illness Prevention)

·        Correlate diet, health, and fitness with illness prevention.

·        Describe the importance of early detection in preventing the progression of disease.

·        Explain the need to follow prescribed health care procedures given by parents and health care providers.

·        Describe how to demonstrate safe care and concern toward ill and disabled persons on the family, school, and community.

·        List the factors contributing to tooth decay, diseases of the mouth, and preventive measures.

·        Describe the influence that rest has on physical functioning (recovering from fatigue, restoring energy), personal requirements for sleep, and methods for getting adequate sleep.

Safety And Injury Prevention (Safety)

·        Compare/contrast the main causes of death for adults and teenagers.

·        Explain how accidents are the leading cause of death for adolescents.

·        Recognize sexual abuse and child abuse and how to get help.

Tobacco, Alcohol, And Other Substance Use/Abuse Prevention (Substance Abuse Prevention)

·        Demonstrate appropriate ways to refuse illegal drugs.

·        Identify alcoholism and drug addiction as public health problems.

·        Describe the impact that substance abuse has on future health.

·        Describe addictions to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, as well as methods for intervention, treatment, and cessation.

·        Identify internal factors (such as character) and external factors (such as family, peers, community, faith-based affiliation, and media) that influence the decision of young people to use or not to use drugs.

·        Demonstrate ways of refusing tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs and methods of sharing preventative health information about these substances with peers.

Violence Prevention

·        Describe the culture of violence that some adolescents choose to create.

·        Describe ways to reduce teenage violence.

·        Define intolerance and explain how it can contribute to violence.

·        Explain the signs of abuse in relationships, including emotional abuse and physical assault, and identify the available resources in schools and the local community, such as counselors, law enforcement, and faith-based groups.

Strand 4

Consumer Health And Resource Management

Ecological Health

Strands & Standards

Health Literacy

Students will:

1. Understand current concepts of health promotion, disease prevention, and risk assessment.

2. Develop individual competence and versatility in movement skills, understand movement concepts, and relate physical activity to lifelong health.

3. Analyze the impact of social, cultural, economic, and environmental factors on health.

4. Identify, use, and evaluate health information and resources.

Healthy Self-Management

Students will:

5. Assess health beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors in order to set achievable goals, monitor progress, and evaluate outcomes.

6. Demonstrate the ability to assess risk, consider potential consequences, and make health-enhancing decisions.

7. Manage resources and practice behaviors that protect and enhance their physical, intellectual, emotional, and social health.

8. Exhibit a physically health lifestyle to achieve and maintain a health-enhancing level of personal fitness.

Health Promotion

Students will:

9. Communicate health information clearly and accurately.