What is Health Education

So what is comprehensive health education and why do I need it?

In Massachusetts, the comprehensive health education curriculum frameworks cover 14 different topics.

In a comprehensive health education program, you will learn how to stay physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy, now and as an adult.

As teenagers, you are beginning to take more responsibility for your health and are able to make choices that can affect your body and mind. This is great preparation for your adult life, when you will have to make decisions about health for yourself and your family. Being responsible for your health and the health of others is a big deal; your life literally depends on it. Health education will give you the information you need to make choices that will support a safe, healthy and productive life.

Below are the 14 different health and wellness topics that are taught in comprehensive health education classes. See the actual Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Curriculum Framework.

  1. Growth and Development
    During this part of health education, you will learn about how your body grows and works and how the decisions you make can positively or negatively affect your body's systems. You will also learn how the human body changes throughout life and what you need to do to keep yourself healthy at different ages.
  2. Physical Activity and Fitness
    You have probably been doing this part of health education in the form of gym class since you were very young. In high school, you will continue participating in and learning about new sports and types of exercise, but you will also learn how to make physical activity part of your life now and in the future. Being active is an important part of leading a healthy and fulfilling life!
  3. Nutrition
    For most of your life, someone else has probably been deciding what you eat. Now that you're older, you have more control over what foods you eat, how much you eat, and when you eat. Part of health education is learning how and why what you eat affects your health and body, and how to choose foods that will keep you functioning and feeling your best.
  4. Reproduction and Sexuality
    As a teenager, your body and emotions are going through some major changes; you may be confused about some of the things you are experiencing. Learning about human reproduction and sexuality will help you understand what your body is going through, and how to deal with some tough issues like sexual activity and sexual orientation. You will learn what abstinence is and the importance of it and how to protect yourself from unwanted pregnancy, HIV, and STIs.
  5. Mental Health
    Becoming an adult means that you have to deal with things like stress, making important decisions, and learning how to interact with people who are very different from you. The mental health unit will teach you healthy ways of coping with difficult emotions like anger, love, sadness, and grief, and how to get help if these feelings are too overwhelming for you to handle on your own. You also get to explore who you are, how you relate to the world around you, and how to accept yourself and others.
  6. Family Life
    You probably know people who come from all different types of families; this unit will show you that although families might look different, all families are basically the same and are an important part of society. You might want to be a parent one day, and the family life unit will teach you important parenting and communication skills and why it's a good idea to wait until you are financially, emotionally, and physically ready to have children.
  7. Interpersonal relationships
    Interpersonal relationships refer to all the relationships we have with people: friends, partners, boyfriends, girlfriends, teachers, bosses, peers, co-workers, teammates. As you know, relationships with other people take a lot of work. This unit will teach you the best ways to communicate with people, the signs of healthy and unhealthy relationships, and how to make the most of every relationship you have.
  8. Disease Prevention and Controls
    In this part of health education, you will learn the signs, symptoms, causes, and treatments for different chronic (like heart disease or cancer) and communicable diseases (like the flu or mono). You'll learn how to prevent and reduce your risk of illness by going to the doctor and dentist regularly, getting enough sleep, and making positive life choices like eating right, exercising, and choosing not to smoke. Taking steps to prevent disease while you're young is one of the best ways to help ensure you'll live a long and healthy life.
  9. Safety and Injury Prevention
    Just as it's important to try to prevent disease and illness, it's equally important to reduce your risk of being injured or in an accident. You'll learn things like how to stay safe while driving, what to do if you've been abused or harassed, and how to report dangerous activity. You'll also learn first aid skills such as how to care for broken bones, and what to do if someone is choking or having a heart attack. Just think-the skills you learn in health class could save someone's life!
  10. Tobacco, Alcohol, and Other Substances
    This unit is really crucial because as a teenager, you will be-or already have been- faced with decisions about smoking and using drugs and alcohol. You will learn how substance abuse affects your body, mind, and relationships with other people. You'll also learn about positive alternatives to drinking, smoking, or doing drugs, and how to encourage others to avoid using harmful substances.
  11. Violence Prevention
    In this section, you'll look at the ways violence negatively affects individuals, communities, and society. You'll learn why violence exists and what you can to do to help stop and prevent it in your community and in yourself. You'll also learn healthy ways to deal with anger, stress, and aggression so that these emotions don't turn into violence.
  12. Consumer Health and Resource Management
    This unit teaches you how to locate resources that will give you all the information you need to make the right choice for your needs and wants; you'll also analyze how factors like society and the media might influence a person's decisions or the resources they can access.
  13. Ecological Health
    This unit focuses on the relationship between the earth and people. You'll learn about how the condition of the environment can affect your physical health. Additionally, you'll learn about how you can help the environment by learning to reduce, recycle and reuse, and a number of other ways to keep the Earth healthy-and in turn, yourself healthy.
  14. Community and Public Health
    In this last section, you will explore how the overall well-being and health of a community is affected by the actions of groups and individuals; you'll learn what you can do to make your community a better place to live and work. You'll discover what issues communities around the world are dealing with, and how they compare to the issues within your own community. Finally, you'll learn how to use and access different community services like health centers and social service agencies.

Is Health Education being taught in all schools?

Well, some schools districts have excellent health education programs while others have little or no health education at all. CARE for Youth is working to pass a bill that would ensure comprehensive health education is taught in all schools in Massachusetts including your school! Find out more about the Health Education Bill.