Gov. Pritzker Signs Two Bills Updating Sex Education Standards in K-12 Schools

Gov. JB Pritzker signed two bills Friday that update the state’s sex education standards in K-12 schools.

In Illinois, public schools aren’t required to offer sex education courses. Earlier in the year, State Rep. Kathleen Willis (D-Addison) proposed sex ed be mandated, and that curriculum should be aligned with culturally competent and medically accurate standards.

Under Senate Bill 818, school can still choose to adopt the state standards, which will align with the  National Sex Education Standards or not offer sex education at all. 

School districts are not required to have active parental consent, but parents or guardians may opt their child out by submitting the request in writing. The district is required, though, to provide instructional materials for review, either electronically or in-person, and must provide curriculum on its website, if one exists.

The Illinois State Board of Education is to adopt the new standards that will be developed in consultation with stakeholders, including parents, sexual health and violence prevention experts, health care providers, and education advocates by Aug. 1, 2022, but Senate Bill 818 and House Bill 24, which focuses on age-appropriate discussion regarding sexting, go into effect immediately.

“Modernizing our sex education standards will help keep our children safe and ensure important lessons like consent and internet safety are taught in classrooms,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “By working together, we’ll continue to strengthen our education system and deliver the bright future our kids deserve.”

The National Sex Education Standards that were adopted in 2020 were produced by the Future of Sex Education initiative. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the percentage of teens that are sexually active has been in decline over the last 30 years. 

From 2015 through 2017, 42-percent of never-married female teenagers and 38-percent of never-married male teenagers reported having had sexual intercourse, the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics noted. Both of these numbers dropped significantly from 2002, when they were each 46-percent.

“Research shows that quality sex education programs can help young people delay the onset of sexual activity, reduce the frequency of sexual activity, reduce their number of sexual partners, and increase condom and contraceptive use,” Future of Sex Education Initiative wrote in the standard explanation. 

“And, by helping young people avoid unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases/infections (STDs/ STIs), these programs can yield additional benefits. During the younger years, education that includes identifying body parts and safe versus unsafe touching, and discusses reporting child sexual abuse increases self-protective knowledge and skills, awareness that child sexual abuse is not the fault of the child, and makes it more likely for a child to say they would tell someone about the abuse. 

“And for older youth, students who receive sex education, including sexual negotiations skills, before college matriculation are at lower risk of experiencing sexual assault during college.”

House Bill 24 requires classes that teach sex education to include an age-appropriate discussion regarding sexting. The discussion will include:

• information regarding the possible consequences of sharing or forwarding sexually explicit or suggestive content

• the identification of situations in which bullying or harassment may result as a consequence of sexting

• the potential for long-term legal, social, academic, and other consequences from possessing sexual content,

• the importance of internet safety,

• the identification of people who could be of assistance on this issue to students

• and the development of strategies to resist peer pressure.

The National Sex Education Standards include the following standards:

Grades K–2
CORE CONCEPTS
Consent & Healthy Relationships 

• Describe characteristics of a friend 
• Define bodily autonomy and personal boundaries
• Define consent
• Identify different kinds of families 

Anatomy & Physiology 

• List medically accurate names for body parts, including the genitals

Gender Identity & Expression 

• Define gender, gender identity, and gender-role stereotypes
• Discuss the range of ways people express their gender and how gender-role stereotypes may limit behavior

Sexual Health

• Define reproduction and explain that all living things may have the capacity to reproduce
  

Interpersonal Violence

• Define child sexual abuse and identify behaviors that would be considered child sexual abuse
  

ACCESSING INFORMATION

• Identify situations that may be uncomfortable or dangerous (e.g., bullying, teasing, child sexual abuse)
• Identify trusted adults, including parents and caregivers, that you can talk to about situations which may be uncomfortable or dangerous (e.g., bullying, teasing, child sexual abuse)

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

• Demonstrate how to communicate personal boundaries and show respect for someone else’s personal boundaries
• Explain why it is important to show respect for different kinds of families (e.g., nuclear, single parent, blended, intergenerational, cohabitating, adoptive, foster, same-gender, interracial)
• Demonstrate ways to treat all people with dignity and respect (e.g., race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, differing abilities, immigration status, family configuration)
  

DECISION MAKING

• Demonstrate ways to start a conversation when seeking help from a trusted adult about an uncomfortable or dangerous situation (e.g., bullying, teasing, child sexual abuse)
  

SELF-MANAGEMENT

• Identify healthy ways for friends to express feelings, both physically and verbally

Grades 3-5
CORE CONCEPTS
Consent & Healthy Relationships 

• Describe the characteristics of healthy versus unhealthy relationships among friends and with family
• Explain the relationship between consent, personal boundaries, and bodily autonomy

Anatomy & Physiology

• Recall the human reproductive systems, including the external and internal body parts and their functions, and that there are natural variations in human bodies

Puberty & Adolescent Sexual Development

• Explain the physical, social, and emotional changes that occur during puberty and adolescence and how the onset and progression of puberty can vary
• Describe how puberty prepares human bodies for the potential to reproduce and that some healthy people have conditions that impact the ability to reproduce
• Explain common human sexual development and the role of hormones (e.g., romantic and sexual feelings, masturbation, mood swings, timing of pubertal onset)
• Describe the role hormones play in the physical, social, cognitive, and emotional changes during adolescence and the potential role of hormone blockers on young people who identify as transgender

Gender Identity & Expression

• Distinguish between sex assigned at birth and gender identity and explain how they may or may not differ
• Define and explain differences between cisgender, transgender, gender nonbinary, gender expansive, and gender identity
• Explain that gender expression and gender identity exist along a spectrum
• Describe gender-role stereotypes and their potential impact on self and others

Sexual Orientation & Identity

• Define sexual orientation
• Differentiate between sexual orientation and gender identity
  

Sexual Health

• Explain the relationship between sexual intercourse and human reproduction
• Explain the range of ways pregnancy can occur (e.g., IVF, surrogacy)
• Define STDs, including HIV, and clarify common myths about transmission

Interpersonal Violence

• Define child sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and domestic violence and explain why they are harmful and their potential impacts

ACCESSING INFORMATION

• Identify trusted adults, including parents and caregivers, that students can talk to about relationships
• Identify credible sources of information about puberty and personal hygiene
• Identify trusted adults, including parents, caregivers, and health care professionals, whom students can ask questions about puberty and adolescent health
• Identify trusted adults, including parents and caregivers, whom students can ask questions about gender, gender-role stereotypes, gender identity, and gender expression
• Identify trusted adults, including parents and caregivers, whom students can ask questions about sexual orientation

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

• Communicate personal boundaries and demonstrate ways to respect other people’s personal boundaries
• Identify strategies a person could use to call attention to or leave an uncomfortable or dangerous situation, including sexual harassment
• Explain that some survivors are not believed when they disclose sexual abuse or harassment and that it is important to keep telling trusted adults until one of the adults takes action
  

GOAL SETTING

• Make a plan for maintaining personal hygiene during puberty
  

SELF-MANAGEMENT

• Describe steps a person can take when they are being or have been sexually abused

ADVOCACY

• Demonstrate ways to promote dignity and respect for people of all genders, gender expressions, and gender identities, including other students, their family members, and members of the school community
• Demonstrate ways to promote dignity and respect for people of all sexual orientations, including other students, their family members, and members of the school community
• Demonstrate ways to promote dignity and respect for all people (e.g., race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, differing abilities, immigration status, family configuration)

Grades 6-8
CORE CONCEPTS

Consent & Healthy Relationships

• Compare and contrast the characteristics of healthy and unhealthy relationships
• Describe how power differences, such as age, gender, socioeconomic status, immigration status, race, or unequal position (e.g., student/teacher, supervisor/ employee) may impact relationships
• Analyze the similarities and differences between friendships, romantic relationships and sexual relationships
• Define sexual consent and sexual agency
  

Anatomy & Physiology

• Describe human reproductive systems, including the external and internal body parts and their functions, and that there are naturally occurring variations in human bodies (e.g., intersex, vulvas, circumcised and intact penises)

Sexual Orientation & Identity

• Recall the definition of sexual orientation and explain that most people have a sexual orientatio
• Define sexual identity and explain a range of identities related to sexual orientation (e.g., heterosexual, bisexual, lesbian, gay, queer, two-spirit, asexual, pansexual)

Sexual Health

• Define vaginal, oral, and anal sex
• Explain there are many methods of short- and long-term contraception that are safe and effective and describe how to access them
• List at least four methods of contraception that are available without a prescription (e.g., abstinence, condoms, emergency contraception, withdrawal)
• Describe pregnancy testing, the signs of pregnancy, and pregnancy options, including parenting, abortion, and adoption
• Explain STDs (including HIV), how common STDs are, and how they are and are not transmitted
• Describe the signs, symptoms, or lack thereof, and potential impacts of STDs (including HIV)
• Compare and contrast behaviors, including abstinence, to determine the potential risk of pregnancy and/ or STD (including HIV) transmission
• Discuss current biomedical approaches to prevent STDs (e.g., hepatitis B vaccine, HPV vaccine) and HIV (e.g., PrEP, PEP)
• Explain medical breakthroughs in HIV prevention and treatment and why HIV can now be considered a chronic condition
• Describe the state and federal laws related to minors’ access to sexual healthcare services, including pregnancy and STD/HIV prevention, testing, care, and treatment
• Define racism and intersectionality and describe their impacts on sexual health
• Explain the impact that media, including sexually explicit media, can have on one’s body image and self-esteem

Interpersonal Violence

• Define interpersonal and sexual violence (e.g., sexual harassment, sexual assault, incest, rape, domestic violence, coercion, and dating violence) and describe their impacts on sexual health
• Explain why a person who has been sexually harassed, abused, or assaulted, or has been a victim of incest, rape, domestic violence, or dating violence is never to blame for the actions of the perpetrator
• Define sex trafficking, sexual exploitation, and gender-based violence

ANALYZING INFLUENCES

• Analyze how peers, family, media, society, culture, and a person’s intersecting identities can influence attitudes, beliefs, and expectations about relationships
• Evaluate the impact of technology (e.g., use of smart phones, GPS tracking) and social media on relationships (e.g., consent, communication)
• Identify factors (e.g., body image, self-esteem, alcohol and other substances) that can affect the ability to give or perceive consent to sexual activity
• Analyze how peers, family, and a person’s intersecting identities can influence attitudes, beliefs, and expectations about gender, gender identity, gender roles, and gender expression
• Analyze how peers, media, family, society, culture, and a person’s intersecting identities can influence attitudes, beliefs, and expectations about sexual orientation
• Analyze how alcohol and other substances can influence sexual decision-making
• Describe the state and federal laws related to age of consent, minors’ ability to consent to health care, confidentiality in a healthcare setting, child pornography, sexting, safe haven, and sex trafficking
• Describe strategies that sex traffickers/ exploiters employ to recruit youth

ACCESSING INFORMATION

• Define medical accuracy and analyze medically accurate sources of information about puberty, adolescent development, and sexual health
• Access medically accurate sources of information about gender, gender identity, and gender expression
• Access credible sources of information about sexual orientation
  Identify medically accurate sources of information about STDs, including HIV, such as local STD/ HIV prevention, testing, and treatment resources
• Define prenatal care and identify medically accurate sources of information about prenatal care
• Identify community resources and/ or other sources of support, such as trusted adults, including parents and caregivers, that students can go to if they are or someone they know is being sexually harassed, abused, assaulted, exploited, or trafficked

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

• Demonstrate communication skills that will support healthy relationships
• Demonstrate strategies to communicate personal boundaries and how to show respect for the boundaries of others
• Demonstrate ways to communicate respectfully with and about people of all gender identities
• Demonstrate ways to communicate respectfully with and about people of all sexual orientations
• Demonstrate ways to communicate decisions about whether or when to engage in sexual behaviors and how to reduce or eliminate risk for pregnancy and/or STDs (including HIV)

DECISION MAKING

• Identify factors that are important in deciding whether and when to engage in sexual behaviors

GOAL SETTING

• Develop a plan to eliminate or reduce risk of unintended pregnancy and STDs (including HIV)

SELF-MANAGEMENT

• Describe strategies a student might use to end an unhealthy relationship, including involving a trusted adult who can help
• Demonstrate strategies to use social media safely, legally, and respectfully
• Describe the steps to using barrier methods correctly (e.g., external and internal condoms, dental dams)
• Describe strategies a person could use, when it is safe to do so, to intervene when someone is being sexually harassed or someone they know is perpetuating unhealthy or coercive behaviors

ADVOCACY

• Develop a plan for the school to promote dignity and respect for people of all genders, gender identities, and gender expressions in the school community
• Develop a plan for the school to promote dignity and respect for people of all sexual orientations in the school community
• Develop a plan for the school to promote dignity and respect for everyone (e.g., race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, differing abilities, immigration status, family configuration)

Grades 9-10
CORE CONCEPTS

Consent & Healthy Relationships

• Compare and contrast characteristics of healthy and unhealthy romantic and/ or sexual relationships
• Describe what constitutes sexual consent, its importance, and legal consequences of sexual behavior without consent
• Explain the impact media, including sexually explicit media, can have on one’s perceptions of, and expectations for, a healthy relationship

Anatomy & Physiology

• Explain the human reproductive and sexual response systems, including differentiating between internal and external body parts and their functions, and that there are naturally occurring variations in human bodies (e.g., intersex)

Puberty & Adolescent Sexual Development

• Describe the cognitive, social, and emotional changes of adolescence and early adulthood

Gender Identity & Expression

• Differentiate between sex assigned at birth, gender identity, and gender expression

Sexual Orientation & Identity

• Differentiate between sexual orientation, sexual behavior, and sexual identity

Sexual Health

• Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of contraceptive and disease prevention methods (e.g., abstinence, condoms, emergency contraception)
• Identify factors that impact the risk of unintended pregnancy and potential transmission of STDs, including HIV, from a variety of sexual behaviors, including vaginal, oral, and anal sex)
• Describe common symptoms, or lack thereof, and treatments for STDs, including HIV
• List the major milestones of each trimester of fetal development utilizing medically accurate information
• Explain the state and federal laws related to safe haven, parenting, and sterilization, including their impacts on oppressed communities
• Define reproductive justice and explain its history and how it relates to sexual health

Interpersonal Violence

• Identify the state and federal laws related to intimate partner and sexual violence (e.g., sexual harassment, sexual abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence)
• Describe the types of abuse (e.g., physical, emotional, psychological, financial, and sexual) and the cycle of violence as it relates to sexual abuse, domestic violence, dating violence, and gender-based violence
• Explain why a victim/survivor of interpersonal violence, including sexual violence, is never to blame for the actions of the perpetrator
• Explain sex trafficking, including recruitment tactics that sex traffickers/ exploiters use to exploit vulnerabilities and recruit youth

ANALYZING INFLUENCES

• Evaluate strategies to end an unhealthy relationship, including when situations may require adult and/ or professional support
• Analyze the potentially positive and negative roles of technology and social media on one’s sense of self and within relationships
• Analyze factors (e.g., body image, self-esteem, alcohol and other substances) that can affect the ability to give and receive sexual consent
• Analyze how peers, media, family, society, culture, and a person’s intersecting identities can influence self-concept, body image, and self-esteem
• Analyze how media, society, culture, and a person’s intersecting identities can influence attitudes, beliefs, and expectations about gender, gender identity, gender roles, and gender expression
• Analyze how peers, media, family, society, culture, and a person’s intersecting identities can influence attitudes, beliefs, and expectations about sexual orientation and sexual identity
• Describe the impact of racism and inequality on sexual health
  Analyze state and federal laws and guidelines (e.g., CDC) that address sexual healthcare services for minors (e.g., contraception, emergency contraception, prenatal care, adoption, abortion, STD, including HIV, prevention, testing, and treatment)
• Explain the federal and states laws that prohibit the creation, sharing, and viewing of sexually explicit media by minors (e.g., sexting)

ACCESSING INFORMATION

• Access credible sources of information about sexual orientation
  Demonstrate the ability to determine whether a resource or service is medically accurate or credible
• Identify medically accurate sources of information about and local services that provide contraceptive methods (including emergency contraception and condoms) and pregnancy options (including parenting, abortion, adoption, and prenatal care)
• Identify medically accurate sources of information about and local services that provide prevention, testing, care, and treatment of STDs, including HIV, including the steps to obtain PrEP and PEP
• Demonstrate how to access credible sources of information and resources for survivors of interpersonal violence, including sexual violence
• Identify credible resources related to sex trafficking and sexual violence prevention and intervention
  

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

• Describe effective ways to communicate consent, personal boundaries, and desires as they relate to intimacy, pleasure, and sexual behavior
• Demonstrate the ability to effectively communicate with a partner about abstaining from sexual behavior, using condoms and/ or contraception, and preventing, getting testing, and seeking treatment for STDs (including HIV)
• Demonstrate ways to support a fellow student who is being sexually harassed or abused, or is perpetuating unhealthy or coercive behaviors
• Identify ways to reduce risk in physical and digital settings related to sex trafficking and other potentially harmful situations

DECISION MAKING

• Evaluate a variety of characteristics of romantic and/or sexual relationships and determine which ones are personally most important
• Apply a decision-making model to choices about contraceptive use, including abstinence and condoms
  

GOAL SETTING

• Develop a plan to get out of an unsafe or unhealthy relationship
• Develop a plan to eliminate or reduce risk for unintended pregnancy and/ or STDs 
• Describe the steps for how a person living with HIV can remain healthy
  

SELF-MANAGEMENT

• Demonstrate ways to show respect for the boundaries of others as they relate to intimacy and sexual behavior
• Demonstrate the steps to using barrier methods correctly (e.g., external and internal condoms, dental dams)

Grades 11-12
CORE CONCEPTS

Consent & Healthy Relationships

• Describe the characteristics of unhealthy relationships that media, including sexually explicit media, may perpetuate (e.g., inequality between partners, lack of communication and consent, strict gender stereotypes)

Anatomy & Physiology

• Describe the human sexual response cycle, including the role hormones play

Sexual Health

• Evaluate the benefits of biomedical approaches to prevent STDs (e.g., hepatitis B vaccine, HPV vaccine) and HIV (e.g., PrEP, PEP)
• Explain the importance of lowering the viral load of a person living with HIV to undetectable and maintaining viral suppression

ANALYZING INFLUENCES

• Analyze how media portrayals of healthy and unhealthy relationships impact societal norms about romantic and/ or sexual relationships and pleasure
  Analyze cultural and social factors (e.g., sexism, homophobia, transphobia, racism, ableism, classism) that can influence decisions regarding sexual behaviors)
• Describe the potential impacts of power and privilege within romantic or sexual relationships (e.g., age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, socioeconomic status, immigration status, ability)
• Analyze the personal and societal factors that could keep someone from leaving an unhealthy relationship
• Explain how support from peers, families, schools, and communities can improve a person’s health and well-being as it relates to gender identity and gender expression
• Explain how support from peers, families, schools, and communities can improve a person’s health and well-being as it relates to sexual orientation and sexual identity
• Analyze personal and societal factors that can influence decisions about pregnancy options, including parenting, abortion, and adoption
• Analyze factors that can influence condom use and other safer sex decisions (e.g., availability, affordability, perception of risk, pleasure)
• Analyze the impact of stigma and conscious and unconscious biases on pregnancy and STD, including HIV, prevention, testing, and treatment
• Analyze the state and federal laws related to minors’ ability to give and receive sexual consent and their association with sexually explicit media
• Analyze ways systemic oppression and intersectionality impact the sexual agency of communities of color and other marginalized communities
• Analyze how peers, family, media, society, culture, and a person’s intersecting identities can influence attitudes and beliefs about interpersonal and sexual violence

ACCESSING INFORMATION

• Access medically accurate and credible information about pregnancy options, including parenting, abortion, and adoption

INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

• Analyze societal factors that might inhibit honest discussion between sexual and/or romantic partners about their sexual histories, including STDs and HIV status, and identify ways to begin such conversations

DECISION MAKING

• Apply a decision-making model to maintaining a healthy relationship and/or ending an unhealthy relationship
• Assess the skills needed to be an effective parent

GOAL SETTING

• Develop a plan to access local resources and services related to reducing the risk of pregnancy and/ or STDs (including HIV) transmission, including ways to overcome potential barriers to access

SELF-MANAGEMENT

• Evaluate strategies to use social media safely, legally, and respectfully
  Assess individuals’ responsibility to test for and inform partners about STDs (including HIV) status

ADVOCACY

• Advocate for school and community policies and programs that promote dignity and respect for people of all genders, gender expressions, and gender identities
• Advocate for school and community policies and programs that promote dignity and respect for people of all sexual orientations
• Advocate for school and community policies that promote safety, respect, and equity for all people (e.g., race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, differing abilities, immigration status, family configuration)