§ 804 — Health education regarding mental health, alcohol, drugs, tobacco abuse and the prevention and detection of certain cancers

§ 804. Health education regarding mental health, alcohol, drugs,\ntobacco abuse and the prevention and detection of certain cancers. 1.\nAll schools shall ensure that their health education programs recognize\nthe multiple dimensions of health by including mental health and the\nrelation of physical and mental health so as to enhance student\nunderstanding, attitudes and behaviors that promote health, well-being\nand human dignity.\n 2. All schools shall include, as an integral part of health education,\ninstruction so as to discourage the misuse and abuse of alcohol, tobacco\nand other drugs and promote attitudes and behavior that enhance health,\nwell being, and human dignity.\n 3. Instruction regarding alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs shall be\nincluded in the health education provided for all elementary school\npupils and shall be taught by the regular classroom teachers or by\nteachers certified to teach health education. Such instruction shall be\ndesigned according to the needs and abilities of the pupils at\nsuccessive grade levels with the purpose of developing desirable health\nbehavior, attitudes, and knowledge as well as self-reliance and problem\nsolving capacity.\n 4. Instruction regarding alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, in\naddition to continued health guidance in the junior high school grades\nand the senior high schools, shall be an integral part of a required\nhealth education course at each of these levels in the secondary schools\ncurriculum. Students shall be required to demonstrate knowledge in the\nsubject area through the use of a test, graded project or report, or any\nother means prescribed by the school authorities regarding alcohol,\ndrugs, and tobacco. Any such course shall be taught by teachers holding\na certificate to teach health. Related courses in the secondary school\ncurriculum shall be taught in a manner supportive of health education\nregarding alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. In addition, instruction\nregarding the dangers of driving while under the influence of alcohol or\ndrugs shall be an integral part of a required health education course in\nthe senior high schools. Such instruction shall be provided in all\nsenior high schools whether or not these schools also provide driver\neducation courses.\n 5. Instruction regarding methods of prevention and detection of\ncertain cancers, including but not limited to breast cancer, skin\ncancer, testicular cancer and other cancers where certain preventive\nmeasures have become generally accepted and certain detection methods\nhave been adopted and recommended generally to the public. Such\ninstruction shall be an integral part of a required health education\ncourse at the senior high school level, in addition to continued health\nguidance in senior high schools. Any such course shall be taught by\nteachers holding a certificate to teach health.\n 6. a. The commissioner may prescribe in regulations such health\neducation courses which include instruction regarding alcohol, tobacco,\nand other drugs as the commissioner may deem necessary and desirable for\nthe welfare of pupils and the community. The contents may be varied to\nmeet the needs of particular school districts, or portions thereof, and\nneed not be uniform throughout the state, provided, however, that school\ndistricts shall utilize either the curriculum for health education\ninstruction regarding alcohol, tobacco and other drugs prescribed by the\ncommissioner or a course approved by the commissioner in accordance with\ncriteria established by the commissioner. The commissioner is authorized\nto make recommendations to the board of regents beginning December\nfirst, two thousand fourteen and every three years thereafter relating\nto the modernization of such instruction required pursuant to\nsubdivision one of this section, to include the most up to date age\nappropriate information available regarding the misuse and abuse of\nalcohol, tobacco and other drugs, including but not limited to heroin\nand opioids. Such instruction shall include, but not be limited to,\ninformation regarding drugs and other substances that are more prevalent\namong school aged youth. Such recommendations shall be the result of a\ncollaboration between the department, the office of alcoholism and\nsubstance abuse services and the department of health. If the board of\nregents adopts such curriculum, the curriculum requirement shall take\neffect no later than the next school year after such curriculum has been\nadopted.\n b. The commissioner shall make available an interpersonal violence\nprevention education package for grades kindergarten through twelve,\nwhich package may consist of student pamphlets, parent pamphlets,\nvideotapes and other informative materials to be distributed to school\ndistricts, and shall encourage the use of such material as part of the\nhealth or other related curricula or programs.\n c. The regents shall review the health curriculum requirements in\nexistence on the effective date of this paragraph for the purpose of\nstreamlining such curriculum and identifying any outdated components\nthat may be eliminated or consolidated in order to ensure that students\nhave sufficient time and instruction to develop skills to address issues\nof violence prevention and mental health. To the extent appropriate, the\nregents shall modify the existing curriculum to provide greater focus on\nthe development of skills, by no later than middle school, that are\nneeded to recognize, cope with and address potentially violent incidents\nincluding an understanding of student roles in emergency situations and\nother related skills designed to reduce the threat of violence in\nschools.\n 7. School authorities shall provide the needed facilities, time, and\nplace for the instruction set forth herein and shall provide learning\naids and curriculum resource materials which contribute to effective\nteaching methods and learning in health education regarding alcohol,\ntobacco, and other drugs.\n 8. All pre-service training programs in the state for elementary\nteachers shall include adequate preparation regarding the instruction in\nalcohol, tobacco, and other drugs set forth herein, and no teacher shall\nbe licensed except upon satisfactory demonstration of the competencies\nincluded in the institutional proposals approved by the department.\n 9. Nothing contained in this section shall be deemed to diminish or\nimpair the duties of the commissioner with respect to the continuing\nprogram for critical health problems established by chapter seven\nhundred eighty-seven of the laws of nineteen hundred sixty-seven as\namended. The commissioner shall coordinate actions taken under authority\nof this section with the provisions of said chapter as they relate to\nhealth education in schools, inservice training and training programs,\nand curriculum or syllabus development regarding the deleterious effects\nresulting from the use, misuse, and abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and other\ndrugs.\n