18A:35-4.23 - Domestic violence, child abuse, instruction on those problems
18A:35-4.23. Domestic violence, child abuse, instruction on those problems1.A board of education may include instruction on the problems of domestic violence and child abuse in an appropriate place in the curriculum of elementary school, middle school and high school pupils. The instruction shall enable pupils to understand the psychology and dynamics of family violence, dating violence and child abuse, the relationship of alcohol and drug use to such violence and abuse, the relationship of animal cruelty to such violence and abuse, and to learn methods of non-violent problem-solving.
L.2003,c.46.
18A:35-4.24 Definitions relative to alternative education projects.
1.As used in this act:
"Alternative education project" means the use of video tapes, models, films, books, computers, or any other tools which provide an alternative method for obtaining and testing the knowledge, information, or experience required by a course of study.
"Animal" means any living organism that is an invertebrate, or is in the phylum chordata or organisms which have a notochord and includes an animal's cadaver or severed parts of an animal's cadaver.
L.2005,c.266,s.1.
18A:35-4.25 Refusal to participate in certain school activities related to animal dissection, etc.
2. a. A public school pupil from kindergarten through grade 12 may refuse to dissect, vivisect, incubate, capture or otherwise harm or destroy animals or any parts thereof as part of a course of instruction.
b.A school shall notify pupils and their parents or guardians at the beginning of each school year of the right to decline to participate in the activities enumerated in subsection a. of this section and shall authorize parents or guardians to assert the right of their children to refuse to participate in these activities. Within two weeks of the receipt of the notice, the pupils, parents or guardians shall notify the school if the right to decline participation in the enumerated activities will be exercised.
c.Any pupil who chooses to refrain from participation in or observation of a portion of a course of instruction in accordance with this section shall be offered an alternative education project for the purpose of providing the pupil with the factual knowledge, information or experience required by the course of study. A pupil may refuse to participate in an alternative education project which involves or necessitates any harmful use of an animal or animal parts.
d.A pupil shall not be discriminated against, in grading or in any other manner, based upon a decision to exercise the rights afforded pursuant to this act.
L.2005,c.266,s.2.
18A:35-4.26 Instruction in gang violence prevention; required for elementary school students.
1.Each board of education that operates an educational program for elementary school students shall offer instruction in gang violence prevention and in ways to avoid membership in gangs. The instruction shall take place as part of the district's implementation of the Core Curriculum Content Standards in Comprehensive Health and Physical Education, and the comprehensive health and physical education curriculum framework shall provide school districts with sample materials that may be used to support implementation of the instructional requirement.
L.2007, c.22, s.1.