AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – The Texas State Board of Education on Friday approved teaching middle schoolers about birth control but decided against providing students with information on consent, sexual orientation and gender identity.
The education board’s changes were the first to sex education curriculum in Texas in more than 20 years. The revisions include teaching seventh and eighth graders about the effectiveness of birth control in preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. Currently only high schoolers get such lessons, though health courses aren’t required for graduation. The new standards go into effect in 2022.
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