Health Education
Ohio law directs schools and districts to include health education and other related topics at various times throughout its K-12 curriculum. This webpage provides legislative requirements and numerous resources to help support the development of a school’s or district’s health curriculum.
Legislation
Graduation Requirements
Please review the
Complete Courses and Requirements to learn more about health education graduation requirements.
Prescribed Curriculum
Overall curriculum requirements are outlined in the
Ohio Revised Code 3313.60.
SAVE Students Act
Starting in the 2023-2024 school year, Ohio law requires one-hour (or one standard class period) of instruction is provided for each of the three topic areas – suicide awareness and prevention; safety training and violence prevention; and social inclusion.
Instruction must occur every year for students in each grade 6-12. (Instruction can be provided in courses other than health education if it is not offered in all grades 6-12).
The instruction offered must be approved by the Departments of Education and Workforce, Mental Health and Addiction Services and Public Safety. The list of the approved programs is available on the Safety and Violence Education Students (SAVE Students) Act website.
Read more on the Safety and Violence Education Students (SAVE Students) Act webpage.
Instructional Resources:
- Society of Health And Physical Educators (SHAPE) America
- Vaping - Harms of Electronic Smoking Devices
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Adolescent and School Health Webpage (Venereal Disease Resource)
- Ohio Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance Model Health Education Curriculum
- HOPE Curriculum
- Second Chance Trust Fund (Organ Donation Resource)
- Donate Life Ohio teacher resources webpage
- Students will make one of their first adult decisions as they begin to drive and are asked about registering as an organ, eye and tissue donor at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles. The new state requirement recognizes that many people do not understand what that question involves and -- no matter their answer -- it’s important to make it knowing the facts. The resources Donate Life Ohio provides make teaching donation straight forward and easy to understand. In addition, donation educators travel throughout the state giving free, fact-based, non-persuasive presentations to high school students.
- EVERFI Health Resources (Free resources after registration)
- Building Healthy Relationships / Character Playbook (includes dating violence prevention)
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The Character Playbook is an innovative digital character education program that uses engaging social-emotional learning activities to educate students about cultivating and maintaining healthy relationships during critical development years. Students learn key concepts around positive character development, social-emotional learning (SEL) and developing healthy relationships. The Character Playbook allows students to engage with real-world scenarios, including bystander intervention training, resolving conflicts, effective communication and positive relationships.
- Honor Code (Bullying Prevention, Leadership, Courage and Resiliency)
- The Honor Code takes a practical approach to bullying prevention by empowering students to create positive change in their school community when they are involved in or witnessing bullying. Students can apply the social skills learned in each module by engaging in real life-based scenarios that challenge them in areas of courage, leadership and resilience.
- Mental Wellness Basics
- Mental Wellness Basics introduces students to mental health education. Stigma associated with mental health can have serious and negative impacts on help-seeking behaviors and can be significantly lessened through prevention. Students learn skills such as:
- identifying threats to mental health early;
- taking measures to increase factors that protect mental health;
- developing awareness and empathy;
- providing facts on the prevalence and symptoms of mental health conditions; and
- fostering a mental health mindset to develop feelings of self-efficacy and skills that promote and model advocacy for self and others.
- Vaping
- Prescription Drug Safety (Opioid Prevention)
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Prescription Drug Safety is an innovative digital course that arms students with the knowledge and tools to make healthy, informed decisions. Students taking this course will learn about a range of topics, including the science of substance use disorder, medication safety tips and how to intervene when faced with a situation involving drug misuse.
NOTE: These resources are intended for teaching professionals to utilize in their lessons and not replace a lesson or an educator.
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Last Modified: 2/19/2025 8:16:53 AM