Revise and improve the Health Curriculum in Pennsylvania

Inside public schools in Pennsylvania, students do not receive the proper health and physical education. There isn’t anyone monitoring health and physical education teachers to make sure they are following standards.

For example, the school district of Philadelphia has not yet aligned the standards for physical and health education, meaning that the planning and scheduling timeline that they have created is made up. Not only are the planning and scheduling timelines made up, but there isn't anyone making sure that these timelines are being followed. No one from the school district comes out to check on the health and physical education classes.

When I was in health class in 9th grade, the only thing I learned about was sexual education, but that was only the first half of the school year. I didn’t learn anything about health or physical education in the second half of the school year because I had a substitute teacher, and I never remember having someone sit in on our class to check our progress. It just goes to show how much my school district cares about health and physical education. This is why I am proposing to you a bill that mandates what is being taught in the health classes in the public high schools of Pennsylvania.

In order to make sure that the proper health education is being taught in high schools there should be a written out health curriculum that every public school in the Pennsylvania School District must follow. There should also be curriculum specialists who sit in on these classes at least 5 times a year to ensure that the curriculum is being followed. The definition of health is "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being", so students should be exposed to any information or activities that will ensure the well-being of their health. Topics include drugs, violence, domestic violence and child abuse, sex education, nutrition, exercise, the human body, and social equity.

A strict health curriculum, and curriculum specialist to ensure the proper information is being taught, will ensure that the students of Pennsylvania are receiving the proper health education. There should also be a requirement for high school students to have completed two health classes instead of one, one in 9th grade in the second in 12th.

Here are some benefits of mandating a new health curriculum and curriculum specialist to monitor these classes:
• Students will be able to understand the importance of health and how bad health habits could affect them.
• Students will be encouraged to eat better
• Students will be encourage to exercise
• It will be addressing the obesity epidemic.
• Drug use will decrease.
• Crime rates in teens will be decreased.
• It will be addressing domestic violence and drug abuse.
• There will be an increase in jobs for curriculum specialist in school districts.