Ohio

Ohio schools are required to provide sexual health instruction on HIV/STIs through “venereal disease education”.

• Curriculum must emphasize abstinence.
• Curriculum is not required to include instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity.
• Curriculum is not required to include instruction on consent.
• Upon written request of a parent or guardian, a student may be excused from receiving any or all sex education instruction. This is referred to as an “opt-out” policy. Further, if any education beyond the mandated topics is provided, prior parental consent must be obtained. This is referred to as an “opt-in” policy.
• Ohio has no regulation regarding medically accurate sex education.

State Law

Ohio Revised Code Sections 3313.60 and 3313.6011 require both sex education and human immunodeficiency (HIV)/sexually transmitted infection (STI) instruction, stating that the board of education of each school district must establish a health education curriculum for “all schools under their control.” The health education curriculum must include “[v]enereal disease education,” which must emphasize that “abstinence from sexual activity is the only protection that is [100 percent] effective against unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease [STD], and the sexual transmission of a virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome [AIDS].” Additionally, it must:

1. Stress that students should abstain from sexual activity until after marriage;
2. Teach the potential physical, psychological, emotional, and social side effects of participating in sexual activity outside of marriage;
3. Teach that conceiving children out of wedlock is likely to have harmful consequences for the child, the child’s parents, and society;
4. Stress that STDs are serious possible hazards of sexual activity;
5. Advise students of the laws pertaining to financial responsibility of parents to children born in- and out-of-wedlock; and
6. Advise students of the circumstances under which it is criminal to have sexual contact with a person under the age of 16, pursuant to section 2907.04 of the Revised Code.
7. Emphasize adoption as an option for unintended pregnancies.

Upon written request of a parent or guardian, a student may be excused from receiving any or all of this instruction. This is referred to as an “opt-out” policy.

State Profiles provided by SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change. For more information regarding your state’s sex ed policy, visit https://siecus.org/state_profile/ohio-state-profile-23/

State Standards

Ohio law does not permit the State Board of Education to adopt the Health Education Standards in Ohio. However, the Ohio Department of Education does provide guidance on the overall health education curriculum requirements, K-6 health education requirements, 7-8 health education requirements, and 9-12 health education requirements. Under these requirements, students receive additional instruction on healthy relationships, dating violence prevention, and personal safety and assault prevention.