The new curriculum will take effect after the winter break
Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott and the Education Department will require public school students to take sexual education courses starting after winter break.Lessons will range from the risks of unprotected sex, teen pregnancy. avoiding abusive relationships and the proper way to use a condom.
The new plan comes on the heels of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's initiative to improve the lives of black and Latino teenagers, who are more likely than white students to engage in sexual activity, leading to unplanned pregnancies and sexually-transmitted diseases.
Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott informed principals of the move in an e-mail last night.
Schools will be required to teach sex education starting in the sixth- or seventh-grade. Those will be followed up in the ninth- and tenth-grades.
The new curriculum will take effect after the winter break.
Parents can pull their children out of classes that focus on birth-control methods.