- South Carolina state law mandates the teaching of sexuality education, though it is not required to be comprehensive.
- All sex ed curricula must stress abstinence.
- Public schools are required to provide STD education beginning in grade 6 but are prohibited from providing such information prior to that time.
- Sex ed curricula are not required to include instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity.
- Sex ed curricula are not required to include instruction on consent, though such instruction is recommended by the South Carolina Standards for Health and Safety Education.
- Instruction on abortion as a method of birth control is prohibited unless in the context of discussing the complications it may cause.
- According to South Carolina Code Annotated §§ 59-32-10, the reproductive health education that is required throughout students’ schooling is to be composed of instruction in human physiology, conception, prenatal care and development, childbirth, and postnatal care, but not instruction about sexual practices outside marriage or practices unrelated to reproduction except within the context of the risk of disease.
- HB 3764 was passed in 2023. It affirms that parents have the fundamental right to direct the education of their children and play a central role in what their children are learning. Similarly, HB 3728 (also passed in 2023) mandates that parents are expected to be the primary source of their child’s education regarding learning morals, ethics, and civic responsibility.
- Parents must be informed in advance of any sexuality-specific instruction and are allowed to remove their children from any part of the health education classes. This is referred to as an “opt-out” policy.
- The South Carolina Standards for Health and Safety Education provide guidance for curricula development.
Bills to Watch
- SB 506 and HB 3826 were introduced in 2023. They would include “profane language” in the prohibited materials deemed “harmful to minors.” Exceptions would be limited to the age-appropriate teaching of a sex education program or human biology curriculum, for which express written consent from the minor’s parent or legal guardian had been obtained in advance.
- HB 3827 was introduced in 2023. It would prohibit “divisive concepts,” require curriculum transparency for parents, “guard” students against obscene or age inappropriate topics, and defer to parents as the source of children learning morals and things like “sexual and gender beliefs.” Schools would also not be able to promote or endorse the concept of equity, YRBS restrictions, sexually explicit or obscene materials, or sexual orientation and gender identity.
- SB 424 was introduced in 2023. It would establish that schools must defer to parents and legal guardians as the primary decision-makers and source of their children’s education. Additionally, the bill would introduce parameters around topics such as sexuality, gender, sex, and race. Any topic deemed “sexually explicit” would be prohibited, including concepts or instruction on sexual activity, sexual orientation, gender theory, gender identity, gender multiplicity, or gender expression, except as may be needed for exclusively teaching the public health model of sexual risk avoidance education and human biological reproduction as part of a larger unit of study in grades 9 through 12. Upon passage and enactment of the bill, schools would have to revise their educational curriculum, as well as their counseling protocols.
- SB 337 was introduced in 2023. It would amend the definition of reproductive health education to include age appropriate comprehensive and medically accurate instruction and would also removes the emphasis on abstinence. In addition, it would require curricula to include domestic violence and pregnancy prevention education.
- HB 3197 was introduced in 2023. It would add a “Parental Bill of Rights” and also raise the age of consent for health services from 16 to 18.
- HB 3582 was introduced in 2023. It would require school districts to include dating violence education as part of the comprehensive health education curriculum, and require local school boards to develop and implement a policy on the topic of dating violence. It would also add dating violence education to the definition of instruction in comprehensive health for grades 6-8, and require students to receive at least 750 minutes of instruction on the topic.
- HB 3485 was introduced in 2023. It would require school districts to create policies that promote the involvement of parents of students in schools, enable a parent to remove their child from instruction they deem harmful, and require parental notification and written consent of any reproductive health, family life, pregnancy prevention, gender, sexuality, or relationship instruction.
- SB 234 was introduced in 2023. It would require that public schools create procedures for parents to withdraw their child from any portion of the school district’s comprehensive health education program. It would also require that parents be notified at least seven days in advance of lessons that have the goal or purpose of studying, exploring, or informing students about gender roles or stereotypes, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, or romantic or sexual relationships.
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 South Carolina profile.