SB 157-HEALTH AND PERSONAL SAFETY EDUCATION  9:49:48 AM CHAIR HOLLAND reconvened the meeting and announced the consideration of SENATE BILL NO. 157, "An Act relating to health and personal safety education; and providing for an effective date." 9:50:13 AM SENATOR GRAY-JACKSON, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, sponsor of SB 157, read the sponsor statement. Sex education is essential to young people's health, relationships, and life goals. Young people should get age-appropriate, medically accurate information. Young people across Alaska deserve age-appropriate, medically accurate information about sex, reproduction, and healthy relationships taught in culturally competent, inclusive ways. Sex education should cover a wide range of topics, including healthy and unhealthy relationships, decision-making and peer pressure, abstinence, communication, consent, body image, media literacy and critical thinking, birth control, and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). But many students in Alaska don't have access to the information and skills they need to protect their health because our state does not have comprehensive requirements for sex education in public schools. Sex education can equip young people with the skills they need for a lifetime of good health, including the ability to have healthy relationships, make decisions for themselves, think critically about the world, be a good ally to those who are different, and love yourself for who you are. Comprehensive, medically accurate sexual health education is the best way to help young people stay healthy. 9:52:21 AM BESSE ODOM, Staff, Senator Elvi Gray-Jackson, Alaska State Legislature, Juneau, Alaska, read the sectional analysis for SB 157. [Original punctuation provided.] Sectional Analysis for SB 157 version A   Section 1. This section amends AS 14.03.120, the statute regarding public school reports on school performance and planning by adding a new subsection. This new subsection requires a summary and evaluation of health and personal safety. Section 2. This section amends AS 14.30.360 - 14.30.370 by adding personal safety program standards. Section 3. This section amends AS 14.30.360, by adding conforming language as seen in section 2. This section is also amended to mandate a health and personal safety education curriculum. Additionally, this section adds a new subsection. This new subsection requires medically and scientifically accurate information for curriculum and defines "consent". Section 4. Adds a new subsection that sets requirements for the health and personal safety education program curriculum. Section 5. Repeals AS 14.30.361. Section 6. This section sets an effective date of June 30, 2023. 9:53:54 AM CHAIR HOLLAND turned to invited testimony on SB 157. 9:54:32 AM ROSE OHARA JOLLEY, Director, Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates Alaska (PPAA), Fairbanks, Alaska, began invited testimony on SB 157. She stated that PPAA strongly supports SB 157, a bill that would enact state standards for sexual health education to ensure that all young people in Alaska receive the education they need to live healthy, safe lives. She offered her belief that most people in Alaska want young people to receive sex education. She reported that a 2019 survey [not identified] showed that over 90 percent of Alaskan voters agreed that sex education should be medically accurate, age-appropriate, and cover healthy relationships, consent, and communication skills, all of which is covered in SB 157. 9:55:25 AM MS. JOLLEY related that medical associations, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Alaska Association of Student Government all support sex education. The vast majority of people support sex education, including 9 of 10 parents, which is why 33 states and the District of Columbia require sexual health education. Young people deserve to get evidence-based, medically accurate, age- appropriate information and answers to their questions about sex and relationships without being shamed or judged. Alaska leads the nation with sexually-transmitted infections (STIs), ranking the highest per capita for chlamydia and second-highest for gonorrhea. Teens and young people are particularly vulnerable to these infections. Young Alaskans 15-19 years old contract chlamydia at three times the [national] average. Despite these staggering statistics, only half of the secondary schools allow teaching teens how to access valid and reliable information, products, and services related to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) STIs, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and pregnancy. Alaska also has the country's highest rate of reported rape, almost three times the national average. Alaska's child sexual assault rate is estimated to be the highest in the country, with nearly one in seven people in Alaska experiencing some child sexual abuse. MS. JOLLEY stated that considerable research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that comprehensive sex education reduces sexual risk behavior and STIs. Sex education is also associated with the delayed initiation of sex, fewer sexual partners, and more widespread use of condoms and contraceptives. Alaskan youth need to be equipped with information on respecting boundaries, protecting their health, and knowing who to turn to for help. Student health, including sexual health, is strongly connected to academic success and should be a core part of any student curriculum, just like any other subject area. It is time for Alaska to adopt comprehensive, inclusive, medically accurate, and age-appropriate sexual health education standards for students. 9:58:01 AM JAYNE ANDREEN, President, Alaska Public Health Association (ALPHA), Douglas, Alaska, provided invited testimony supporting SB 157. She stated that ALPHA, an affiliate of the American Public Health Association, represents a 150-year history of translating and promoting effective public health policy and practices to improve the public's health. ALPHA supports implementing a required, comprehensive, and sequential health education program for K-12 so that all students in public and private schools receive this information. 9:58:56 AM MS. ANDREEN stated that research shows that well-designed, effectively-implemented school health policies and programs improve student health-related behaviors and outcomes and their educational outcomes. MS. ANDREEN stated that according to the most recent 2019 Alaska Youth Risk Behavior Survey, many high school students in Alaska engaged in health risk behaviors. In the past months, students responded that 34.5 percent had used tobacco products, including vaping, 21.6 percent had used marijuana, 20.9 percent had used alcohol, 12.4 percent had engaged in binge drinking, and 15.1 percent misused prescription pain medication. Students also reported that in the past year, 19.7 percent had seriously considered suicide, and 26 percent had sex in the last three months. 10:00:00 AM MS. ANDREEN stated that according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), a comprehensive health education curriculum is "one that is broad in scope and content, addresses numerous health problems, issues, and topics, and includes a set of instructional strategies and learning activities for students in pre-K through grade 12 to acquire the knowledge, attitude, and skills to address multiple health outcomes." She noted that key topics of a comprehensive health education program include personal health and wellness, alcohol and drug abuse prevention, tobacco use prevention, safety, physical activity, food and nutrition, violence prevention, mental health, emotional health, and sexual health. MS. ANDREEN highlighted that sexual health education was considered one of the critical topic areas within a comprehensive health education program. 10:01:00 AM MS. ANDREEN stated that the CDC analyzed each state's health education laws and regulations on sexual health, HIV, and STD prevention. She indicated that Alaska was missing every one of the evidence-based components known to promote health. Current law encourages school districts to conduct health education, but SB 157 would require this education in grades K-12. It would expand the list to include sexual health, covering various topics. Currently, Alaska only requires education on child sexual abuse prevention for grades K-12 and dating violence prevention for date rape for grades 7-12. She noted that students must earn one health unit for physical education to graduate from high school. She offered her view that SB 157 was critical for Alaska's youth to ensure that they were equipped with information to develop healthy behaviors, understand how their actions impact their health and learn how to find accurate health information. She encouraged members to pass SB 157 to ensure Alaskans' immediate and long-term health. 10:02:47 AM HANNAH GUZZI, Alaska and Hawai'i Education Manager, Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Anchorage, Alaska, provided invited testimony on SB 157. She stated that through education and health promotion, the organization's collective goal was to improve health outcomes for Alaska's youth and to be changemakers to the statistics shared about Alaska. She explained that people need multiple opportunities over time to make long-term changes in health behaviors. Comprehensive sex education provides age-appropriate education and gives students numerous opportunities to have their questions answered, normalize all the changes happening in their bodies, and provide medically-accurate information for students to make informed choices. She characterized comprehensive sex education as essential to young people's health, relationships, and life goals. It covers various topics, including healthy and unhealthy relationships, decision-making, peer pressure, abstinence, communication, consent, gender identity, sexual orientation, body image, media literacy, critical thinking, birth control, and STIs. 10:04:13 AM MS. GUZZI said that sex education should be culturally specific, taught each year by a trained educator, and equip young people with the skills they need to lead a healthy life, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ), and students with disabilities. She related that in her experience teaching sexual health education in the classroom, she found that students needed to receive medically-accurate information without judgment or shame. One way to accomplish this was to provide a space for students to ask questions anonymously. Most of the questions come from data that they may have seen online or heard from friends. Students are trying to understand their bodies and if their bodies are normal. 10:04:52 AM MS. GUZZI shared some questions she had received that demonstrated how SB 157 standards would help students throughout their lives. If you don't get consent, what happens? Do periods hurt? Could you get pregnant if someone had ejaculated into a pool you were in? What if your partner doesn't want to get tested or won't share their test results? Is it normal if one testicle is lower than the other? What happens if you don't go through puberty? How do I start a healthy relationship? What if someone doesn't put a condom on? How can you let a person know you don't want to have sex? 10:05:32 AM MS. GUZZI stated that with SB 157, teachers could answer these questions in a medically-accurate, evidence-based, age- appropriate way for all users across Alaska. SB 157 would require that this life-changing information be taught throughout Alaska while still allowing schools flexibility to determine how to teach sex education and what curriculum would meet the required standards. School districts and communities could ensure that the content was culturally specific and relevant to their communities while understanding that standards guide the information being taught just like any other content area. 10:06:00 AM MS. GUZZI noted that standards guide the information being taught to students. She stated that SB 157 would require that the guidelines were consistent with the National Sexuality Education Standards, Core Content and Skills K-12, which outlines age-appropriate learning standards. SB 157 would require that all health education is age-appropriate and provides information to guide youth as they grow and develop. For example, these standards would require curricula for students K-2 to help students identify different kinds of family structures, describe the characteristics of a friend, and explains that all people, including children, have a right to tell others not to touch their bodies when they don't want to be touched. It explains why bullying and teasing are wrong. 10:06:46 AM MS. GUZZI provided examples, noting that grades 3-5 would include noting that the timing for puberty and adolescent development varies considerably and can still be healthy. She related an example for grades 6-8 would describe the advantages and disadvantages of communicating using technology and social media. She indicated an example for grades 9-12 would compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of abstinence and other contraceptive methods, including condoms. She offered her view that these standards would ensure that students were equipped with accurate information to understand what was happening to them at their developmental stage. 10:07:21 AM MS. GUZZI stated that sex education should be inclusive, ensuring that the curriculum resonates with all students regardless of gender identity, race, disability status, religion, or sexual orientation. She highlighted that educators had shared multiple instances where a student approached them after a lesson to share how much it meant to see themselves in the curriculum. She indicated that creating spaces for all students to feel welcome, valued, and represented, can increase student attendance and grades and lower suicides. She offered her view that comprehensive sexual education could also build empathy for students who were different and normalize the social and emotional changes that young people go through. It would provide medically accurate answers to their questions, ensure they know to seek the necessary health care, and empower youth to have power and agency over their lives and bodies. She urged members to support SB 157. 10:08:15 AM CHAIR HOLLAND expressed his concern that SB 157 would change the sex education program from "should" to "must." He expressed further concern that the program would require sexual health for K-12 because he was unsure that age-appropriate information would be presented to students. 10:08:55 AM SENATOR HUGHES said she would like to hear from the Department of Education and Early Development (DEED). She related her understanding that health was required for high school graduation, so some sex education was already included in the curriculum. She said she shared Chair Holland's concerns about the bill. 10:09:25 AM SENATOR STEVENS remarked that a constituent contacted him and was upset that their son brought home a survey about sexual issues. He wondered about parental rights and whether parents could opt out because some parents may not wish their children to learn sex education for religious or other reasons. SENATOR GRAY-JACKSON offered her belief that schools were teaching some sex education. She agreed that parents have a right to decide if they want their children to participate. 10:10:28 AM SENATOR GRAY-JACKSON thanked the committee for hearing SB 157. 10:10:39 AM CHAIR HOLLAND held SB 157 in committee.