Why Young People Need Health Education

• Important Stats and Facts about Young People's Health
• The 2005 Massachusetts Youth Risk Behavior Survey

All young people deserve access to information that will help them lead safe and healthy lives. Unfortunately, comprehensive health education is not a requirement, or part of the core curriculum in Massachusetts public schools. This lack of a standard requirement results in differences from district to district, and even from school to school, in the quality and quantity of information that students receive.

Improving the health of Massachusetts children will have a positive economic impact on the state. For example, a recent study showed that in 2004, teen pregnancy cost Massachusetts taxpayers $109 million in 2004 alone.1 Another study reported that every dollar invested in an effective school-based tobacco prevention program saves almost $20 in associated medical costs.2 Comprehensive health education will save taxpayer dollars by avoiding the societal costs of risky behaviors in youth. It will also empower youth to make positive, responsible decisions about nutrition, mental health, violence, substance abuse, sexuality and other important issues.

As part of the Education Reform Act of 1993, the Department of Education developed the Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Education Curriculum Frameworks. These frameworks describe age-appropriate, medically accurate health education topics for students in grades K-12, but it is not currently part of the core curriculum.

Comprehensive health education is strongly supported by Massachusetts voters - more than 70% think it should be a part of the core curriculum in public schools.3

Our children's health is too important an issue to allow the current disparities in health education to continue. We owe Massachusetts youth equal access to information that will help them grow up safe and healthy.