- Louisiana state law does not mandate the teaching of sexuality education. However, schools are required to teach health education, which includes instruction on sexual risk behaviors, HIV/AIDS, and other STIs.
- All sex ed curricula must emphasize abstinence as the expected social standard.
- Sex ed curricula are not required to include instruction on consent.
- Classes may not include “any sexually explicit materials depicting male or female homosexual activity,” nor may it in any way counsel or advocate abortion.
- Louisiana Revised Statute §§17:281 mandates that sex ed cannot be offered in grades K–6, except in Orleans Parish, which may offer sex ed in grade 3 and above. If a student is parenting or pregnant, schools must provide sex education “regardless of the student’s grade level.”
- Louisiana Revised Statute §§17:279 requires that all public high schools offering home economics classes must also provide “parenthood education” and include the following topics about family living and community relationships: the consequences of the lack of adequate prenatal care, home management, and the responsibilities of parenthood.
- Louisiana Revised Statutes Annotated §§ 17:263 requires that adoption awareness be included in any health education or appropriate class. This includes instruction on “the benefits of adoption for families wishing to add a child, for potential adoptees, and for persons who are pregnant or who have a child for whom they are unable to care.”
- Parents or guardians may remove their children from sex education classes. This is referred to as an “opt-out” policy.
- Further expectations are outlined in both Louisiana’s Health Education Handbook and the Louisiana Handbook for School Administrators- Bulletin 741.
Some Sex Ed Advocates Within the State
For more detailed information on how various districts in the state have been implementing these standards — and for recent legislation — you can read SIECUS’s Louisiana profile.