Philosophy
The home, the religious community, and the school share equal concern for Family Life Education and its ultimate goal of developing responsible personal behavior. As parents and clergy develop and reinforce the moral and spiritual aspects of individual growth, the school supplements their efforts by educating students in the physiological, psychological, social and economic facets of interpersonal relations.
Content
Units of Family Life Education are included in the ninth, eleventh and twelfth grade health curricula approved by the Board of Education. Tenth graders study driver education. The family life units, periodically reviewed for content and level of placement are:
A. Grade Nine
1. Grooming, appearance, and nutrition.
2. Mental health and emotional maturation.
3. Social development.
4. Interpersonal relationships.
5. Human growth, development and reproduction.
6. Building self-esteem.
7. Diseases and their prevention.
8. Drugs, alcohol, smoking.
B. Grade Ten
Units on driver education and safety.
C. Grade Eleven
1. Human behaviors; constructive vs. destructive.
2. Substance abuse.
3. Drug classification, legislation and intervention.
4. Physiological, psychological, social and economic ramifications of sexual relations.
5. Sexually transmitted diseases: their identification and treatment.
D. Grade Twelve
1. The family as a social unit.
2. Factors that affect the family.
3. Courtship and engagement.
4. Marriage.
5. Parenting.
6. Roots and causes of domestic violence.
7. Alternative life styles.
8. The human life cycle (including childhood, adolescence, middle years, aging, dying and death).
Curriculum Review
The Family Life Education curriculum was developed via consultation and participation of parents, students, teachers, administrators, clergymen, physicians, and community representatives. Whenever the program is revised in future years, this process of consultation will continue.
Parents wishing to review the complete Family Life curriculum for a particular grade level, or specific instructional materials, should make an appointment with the Department Chairperson.
Materials
A. Grade Nine
1. Text:
a. Sizer, Whitney, DeBruyne Making Life Choices (West 1994)
2. Films, filmstrips, or video-tapes sometimes shown.
a. Getting High on Yourself and Drug Abuse (video-tape).
b. Human Reproduction (film-McGraw-Hill, 1966).
c. V.D. – Prevent It! (film-Alfred Higgons Productions Los Angeles, 1970)
B. Grades Eleven and Twelve
1. Text:
a. Sizer, Whitney, DeBruyne Making Life Choices (West 1994)
2. Magazines: Listen, Pacific Press Publishing Association, Mountain View, California.
3. Films, filmstrips, slides, or video-tapes sometimes shown.
a. “Life Before Birth” – slides on fetal development – Spenco Corporation, Texas, 1982.
b. “Maternity” – slides – The Maternity Center, New York, 1981.
c. “When’s the Big Day?” (Film on marriage planning)
d. “Miracle of Life” (video-tape – New Jersey Public Television, Trenton, 1983).
e. “Labor of Love” (film 1979)
f. “World of Three” (film on parenting)
Because new, appropriate, and useful instructional materials are published each year, the above list of Family Life Education resources is REPRESENTATIVE rather than all-inclusive.
Student Exemption
A parent or guardian who desires that his child be excused from one or more days of instruction in Family Life Education must present to the Principal a signed statement which identifies specific subject matter as being “in conflict with his conscience or sincerely held moral or religious beliefs.” Following review, verification or parental signature, and approval of the request, the Principal will specify alternative arrangements by which the student may fulfill class requirements.
