Students Rights -- Sexual Health And Education
1. Are students entitled to learn about HIV/AIDS, birth control, pregnancy, and abortion at school?
All schools must provide medically accurate instruction about AIDS prevention.You should receive education about AIDS preventionat least once a year, starting no later than the fifth grade. The content of the course must be medically accurate. Your parent or guardian can opt you out of the AIDS prevention education if they attend a presentation about what the course will include and what materials will be used.
Each school district can decide whether or not it wants to teach general sex education. If a school chooses to teach sex education, then classes must be medically accurate. They must include information about both contraceptives and abstinence. And, they must not be taught from a religious viewpoint. If your district does teach sex education, your parent or guardian can opt you out by filing a written request.
2. Can a student be kicked out of school for being pregnant?
No. Under federal law it is illegal for public schools to discriminate against students who are pregnant, have children, or are married. Nor can schools discriminate against a student who chooses to terminate a pregnancy or needs time to recover from medical procedures related to childbirth or abortion. All students, including those who are pregnant or have children, have the right to an education, and school officials cannot prevent them from attending classes, participating in extracurricular activities, and taking part in graduation ceremonies. Even if a school offers special classes for pregnant students or alternative programs, school officials cannot require pregnant students to participate in these if they would rather attend regular classes.
3. Can a student with HIV or AIDS go to school?
Yes. If you are living with HIV or AIDS, you have the right to go to school and the right to privacy in your medical information.Students living with HIV or AIDS should not be barred from school or extracurricular activities. Because HIV/AIDS cannot be easily transmitted during the types of incidental contact that take place at school, you should not be required to disclose your HIV/AIDS status to the school.
Schools must take special care to protect the privacy of students’ HIV or AIDS status and related medical records:
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School officials may not disclose your HIV or AIDS status to others without specific written consent.
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The school may not disclose the identity of any student who has asked about or requested testing or treatment for a sexually transmitted disease, including HIV or AIDS.
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The school may not release HIV test results without a signed release. A general written consent to release medical information is not enough to allow release of HIV records.
4. Do I need my parents’ consent to get birth control? Will my parents be told? Do I need ,y parents’ consent for an abortion?
All people in our state -- including young people -- have a right to privacy for personal reproductive decisions. Every person has the right to choose or refuse birth control. Every woman has the right to choose or refuse to have an abortion. In Vermont, even as a minor, you are the one with the right to consent to family planning(e.g., birth control) or abortion.You are also the one who can authorize the release of information relating to birth control or abortion, not your parent or guardian. That means the school cannot release information about birth control or abortion to your parent or guardian or others without your written authorization.
Students Rights Handbook index:
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