Florida Senate - 2021 SB 554



By Senator Thurston





33-00375-21 2021554__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to human trafficking education in
3 schools; amending s. 1003.42, F.S.; revising the
4 required health education in public schools to include
5 information regarding the dangers and signs of human
6 trafficking; specifying the minimum requirements of
7 the human trafficking education portion of the
8 comprehensive health education curriculum; providing
9 an effective date.
10
11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
12
13 Section 1. Paragraph (n) of subsection (2) of section
14 1003.42, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
15 1003.42 Required instruction.—
16 (2) Members of the instructional staff of the public
17 schools, subject to the rules of the State Board of Education
18 and the district school board, shall teach efficiently and
19 faithfully, using the books and materials required that meet the
20 highest standards for professionalism and historical accuracy,
21 following the prescribed courses of study, and employing
22 approved methods of instruction, the following:
23 (n) Comprehensive health education that addresses concepts
24 of community health; consumer health; environmental health;
25 family life, including an awareness of the benefits of sexual
26 abstinence as the expected standard and the consequences of
27 teenage pregnancy; mental and emotional health; injury
28 prevention and safety; Internet safety; the dangers and signs of
29 human trafficking; nutrition; personal health; prevention and
30 control of disease; and substance use and abuse. The health
31 education curriculum for students in grades 7 through 12 shall
32 include a teen dating violence and abuse component that
33 includes, but is not limited to, the definition of dating
34 violence and abuse, the warning signs of dating violence and
35 abusive behavior, the characteristics of healthy relationships,
36 measures to prevent and stop dating violence and abuse, and
37 community resources available to victims of dating violence and
38 abuse. The human trafficking education portion of the health
39 curriculum must include, at a minimum, recognition of the signs
40 of human trafficking; awareness of resources, including
41 national, state, and local resources; prevention of the abuse of
42 and addiction to alcohol, nicotine, and drugs; information on
43 the prevalence and nature of human trafficking; strategies to
44 reduce the risk of human trafficking; techniques that may be
45 used in setting healthy boundaries and how to safely seek
46 assistance; and information on how social media and mobile
47 device applications are used for human trafficking.
48
49 The State Board of Education is encouraged to adopt standards
50 and pursue assessment of the requirements of this subsection. A
51 character development program that incorporates the values of
52 the recipients of the Congressional Medal of Honor and that is
53 offered as part of a social studies, English Language Arts, or
54 other schoolwide character building and veteran awareness
55 initiative meets the requirements of paragraphs (s) and (t).
56 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.

Statutes affected:
S 554 Filed: 1003.42