Health Education

A Comprehensive Health Education provides students with the knowledge and skills they need to be healthy throughout their lifetime. The intent of a comprehensive health education program is to motivate students to maintain and improve their health, prevent disease, and avoid or reduce health related risk behaviors.  

All teaching and learning is focused on student achievement of learning standards (Next Generation Sunshine State Standards). Health literate youth have the ability to maintain and enhance personal health and fitness, create safe environments, and manage personal and community resources. Health education provides real life learning experiences with personal applications of scientifically research-based health knowledge and skills in relevant situations. Health Education creates opportunities and experiences that engage and challenge young people to assess, explore, and question their health, while personalizing, adapting and evaluating their learning.

Comprehensive health education addresses 14 component areas under Florida State Statute 1003.42 (2)(n) - Required Instruction

Grades K-12

• Community health
• Consumer health
• Environmental health
• Family life
• Mental and emotional health
• Injury prevention and safety
• Internet safety
• Nutrition
• Personal health
• Prevention and control of disease
• Substance use and abuse
• Prevention of child sexual abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking

Grades 6-12

• Awareness of the benefits of sexual abstinence as the expected standard and the consequences of teenage pregnancy

Grades 7-12

• Teen dating violence

• Florida State Statute 1003.41 - Sunshine State Standards
• Florida State Statute 1003.42 (2)(n) - Required Instruction
• Florida State Statute 1003.4282 - General Requirements for High School Graduation; Revised
• Florida State Statute 1003.46 - Health Education; Instruction in Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
• Florida State Statute 787.06 - Human trafficking

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) is a statewide, school-based confidential survey of Florida’s public high school students.  The purpose of the YRBS is to monitor priority health-risk behaviors that contribute substantially to the leading causes of death, disability, and social problems among youth, which contribute to patterns in adulthood.  The YRBS has been jointly administered in odd-numbered years by the Florida Departments of Health and Education.  State data collection for the YRBS does not include county-level data.

In 2001, the YRBS became part of the Florida Youth Survey (FYS), which includes the Florida Youth Tobacco Survey (FYTS), the Middle School Health Behavior Survey (MSHBS), and the Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS).  For more information, visit a site below:

The Escambia County School District offers health education coursework according to Florida Statutes 1003.42 (2)(n) and 1003.46. The reproductive health curriculum is for sixth through twelfth (6th-12th) grade students and is abstinence-based. 

Any student whose parent presents a written request to the principal shall be exempt from the teaching of reproductive health or any disease.
F.S. 1003.42 (3) 

The site-based instructor will send home the appropriate form by grade level below prior to such unit commencing.