Outline of the state of Massachusetts
State
Massachusetts
Addressed

Category
Health Education K-12 Curriculum—Safety and Injury Prevention—MS

Category
Health Education K-12 Curriculum—Safety and Injury Prevention—MS

State law addresses safety and injury.

Chapter 1 NEW DIMENSIONS OF SCHOOL HEALTH

This is a gigantic manual for all things school health, and includes components on health education in the state "The Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Curriculum Framework discusses recommended health education content in terms of 4 separate, but interrelated, strands: physical health, social and emotional health, safety and prevention, and personal and community health."

Policy Type
Non-codified

General Laws of Massachusetts 71.1 Maintenance; double sessions; subjects; twelve-month school year

Instruction in health education shall include, but shall not be limited to: consumer health, ecology, community health, body structure and function, safety, nutrition, fitness and body dynamics, dental health, emotional development safe and healthy relationships with a focus on preventing sexual and domestic violence, and training in the administration of first aid, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Policy Type
Statute

Massachusetts Comprehensive Health Curriculum Framework

Safety and Prevention includes those aspects of health most often related to risky and dangerous behaviors and conduct that can have negative life-long consequences on health. The topics are of particular importance for young people who are at the age when many of these behaviors are being contemplated. The knowledge and skills presented in the Personal Safety Strand provide a means for young people to avoid risky behavior, now and in the future, so that they can lead healthier lives.

The Strand of Safety and Prevention includes:

  • Disease Prevention and Control

  • Safety and Injury Prevention

  • Tobacco, Alcohol, and Other Substance Use/Abuse Prevention

  • Violence Prevention

Disease Prevention and Control focuses on factors contributing to chronic, degenerative, and communicable diseases, genetic factors, methods for detection, and strategies for prevention. Attention to these factors is present in many of the other areas in the Framework as well.

Safety and Injury Prevention includes information to promote knowledge and skills for personal safety and prevention and treatment of intentional or unintentional injury.

Tobacco, Alcohol, and Other Substance Use/Abuse Prevention addresses safe and unsafe substances, how these substances can affect the body and health, and the significance of drug dependence.

Violence Prevention addresses verbal and physical actions that bring harm to a person’s body, feelings, or possessions and the aspects of sound character and conflict resolution that can reduce the incidence and influence of violence on individuals, families, and communities.

The Safety and Prevention Strand is designed to help students examine how they make decisions and weigh the probable consequences of their actions. Students consider risk in their personal lives, including the need to take risks such as standing up for one's opinion and the need to avoid other risks associated with dangerous situations or actions. The purpose of this Strand is to inform students so they may apply and defend health-enhancing decisions

Policy Type
Standard