Students across Texas will see new health curriculum, including sexual health, implemented in their classrooms in 2022. It is the first time in more than two decades that the State Board of Education (SBOE) updated the learning goals, but some educators and teens say update or not, there鈥檚 still a lot missing.
The, are divided by grade level to address various aspects of health, from mental health and wellness, to reproductive systems. Starting in the fourth grade, students learn about sexual health topics like puberty, relationships, and reproduction, centered around abstinence education. A 2020 update introduced new TEKS on sexually transmitted infections, or STIs, and contraception. It does not include information on gender identity, sexuality or consent.
Cali Byrd is a junior at Booker T. Washington High School in Dallas. She remembers in eighth grade a group came to talk to her class about STIs.
鈥淭hey had a bunch of tennis balls and wrote [the names] of STIs on them,鈥� Byrd said. 鈥淭hen they had a couple of kids come up, put on gloves, and said, 鈥業f he throws the ball to her and she has a glove on, then she鈥檚 protected. But if she doesn鈥檛 have a glove on, then she鈥檒l get the disease or something.鈥� It was really weird.鈥�
Byrd said the instructors never explained what the STIs were, just that people should wear condoms to prevent them.
鈥淚t really was not helpful,鈥� she said. 鈥淏y the time you're in eighth grade, you know what a condom is, you know to wear a condom. So it's like, okay, we get it, but why? And what are other things we can do? Because we鈥檙e not just preventing STIs.鈥�
She said since that presentation, she hasn鈥檛 gotten any sex education in school. In 2020, she joined where she got to learn more.
鈥淚 learned about specific STIs, what they did, viral versus bacterial,鈥� Byrd said. 鈥淚 learned different methods of birth control. It was a lot of catching up.鈥�
She鈥檚 not sure how much her other friends know, though.
鈥淚t's a taboo topic, but the part that shouldn't be taboo, which is the education part of it, for some reason is,鈥� Byrd said. 鈥淚t's weirder to talk about that than it is to talk about, like, dirtier stuff.鈥�
Organizations across Texas are trying to mainstream conversations about sexual health through education and resources for caregivers and kids. Terry Greenberg, the founder of, has done this work for about ten years. She said getting information about health is an essential part of growing up.
鈥淵our reproductive and sexual health is really important for your life,鈥� Greenberg said. 鈥淣ot only does it determine your personal health, it鈥檚 the health of your family. If you鈥檙e not giving kids that, you鈥檙e not equipping them to be adults.鈥�
Teen birth rates across the country have been declining since 2007, Despite declines, Texas is routinely in the top ten states with the highest teen birth rate, from (CDC). Educational guides from the CDC state that providing students with can reduce unintended consequences like teen pregnancy and STIs.
鈥淚f the teen birth rate is that high, we want to make sure it's because kids are having all the choices that they should have,鈥� Greenberg said.
Greenberg said the TEKS updates in 2020 from the SBOE had 鈥渁 lot of great stuff,鈥� but educators and advocates were frustrated with some policy changes. New policies in 2021 stated that caregivers must opt in, rather than opt out, for their kids to receive health education in schools..
鈥淭hat's really a huge logistical barrier for kids to actually get it,鈥� Greenberg said. 鈥淒o you really care about the reproductive health of these kids? You have to give them information. So, it鈥檚 always two steps forward, one step back, but we鈥檙e used to it.鈥�
Gov. Greg Abbott 鈥渟afeguard[ing] parental rights regarding this type of instruction.鈥� The governor has also tasked the Texas Education Agency and the SBOE to to 鈥渢o ensure no child is exposed to pornography or other inappropriate content in a Texas public school.鈥� Across the state, this has led to reviews of school libraries, especially books with content discussing race, gender, sexuality and sexual health, and reprirmands for teachers keeping books with these topics in the classroom.
It鈥檚 also a frustrating cycle for J.R. Chester, a project director with the statewide advocacy organization the. She knows from experience.
鈥淚 was a repeat teen mom,鈥� Chester said. 鈥淥ur oldest is 16. He is just a year younger than I was when I got pregnant with him. Then, after I gave birth to him, three months later, we were pregnant with number two.鈥�
The Dallas native said she doesn鈥檛 remember anyone explaining to her what contraceptives were, or why she menstruated every month.
鈥淣o one took the time to tell me, this is why your body is doing this,鈥� said Chester. 鈥淭hings are just happening to me, I'm changing, I'm developing, my hormones are raging. I'm having new emotions and feelings and desires. And nobody's talking to me about it, and then [I got] pregnant.鈥�
She worked with Parkland Hospital System for about 10 years, helping youth navigate health services, before taking on the statewide role with the Texas Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy.
鈥淚 know the information that would have been helpful for me in preventing teen pregnancy in my own personal life, and it鈥檚 something that I want to make sure our future generations have so that they can plan,鈥� Chester said.
There are still a lot of that Chester works to debunk, even with adults.
鈥淎 lot of my female students had no idea that sexual intercourse didn't take place in the same hole that they urinated from,鈥� said Chester. 鈥淭hey had this myth in their mind that oh, well, can't you just pee it out? I hear that a lot as a method of pregnancy prevention.鈥�
At home, she talks with her kids at all ages about health, from using the anatomically correct names of body parts with her younger children to explaining relationships with her teenagers.
鈥淎 lot of our education in this household has been between parents and children,鈥� Chester said. 鈥淭hat's because I have the resources and the education to provide it. If I wasn't in this role, and hadn't been doing this for 10 years, I don't know if I would know what to say to them, honestly.鈥�
Chester, Greenberg and high school student Cali Byrd are optimistic conversations about sexual health will continue to be more routine as the years go on.
鈥淚 like the idea of qualified teachers being trained to do it,鈥� said Greenberg. 鈥淚 like the idea of every kid sitting in a class, feeling like they're being spoken to. And I hope it's just really standard so that everyone gets it鈥攊t's like math, and we don't have to fight about it.鈥�
Byrd said she wishes there was more communication between students and people from the state deciding on health education.
鈥淭hey need to look at it from the perspective of a child in school,鈥� Byrd said. 鈥淵ou can't make a law concerning how someone lives their life when you don't understand how they live their life.鈥�
Overall, she thinks more information at school will give kids a better sense of self moving forward.
鈥淚 just hope that in the future, we have moved past this idea that in order to protect kids, we have to stop them from learning,鈥� Byrd said. 鈥淲e move past that and instead actually teach them what they need to know.鈥�
While health curriculum implementation varies across districts and schools, Chester hopes the recent changes will create a safe space for students like Byrd to ask questions and learn more about their own health.
鈥淚 think people hear sexual health, and some of them get really squeamish about it,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut sexual health is your understanding of your body, your basic functioning, how you're put together, why. That's really harmful to shame something that is normal, because what you're doing is teaching a young person that something is wrong with them.鈥�
Back in November, the SBOE approved health textbooks for middle schools and high schools, but didn鈥檛 agree on textbooks for elementary schoolers. This means that as elementary schools teach new health standards this year, most districts will have to find their own textbooks to do so.
Got a tip? Email Elena Rivera at Erivera@kera.org. You can follow Elena on Twitter .
Keren Carri贸n is a corps member with , a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Got a tip? Email Keren at Kcarrion@kera.org. You can follow Keren on Instagram .
