Healthful Living
Onslow County Schools are committed to a sound, comprehensive Health and Physical Education program that provides students with accurate information, as well as strategies and skills needed to assist them in leading a healthy, active lifestyle. Both Health and PE include the teaching of skills as well as content. In Physical Education, more of the skills are psychomotor or movement skills; in Health Education there is a major focus on critical thinking skills, such as decision making, communication, and goal setting. The Health Education program must include age-appropriate instruction on bicycle safety, nutrition, dental health, environmental health, family living, consumer health, disease control, growth and development, first aid and emergency care, mental and emotional health, drug and alcohol abuse prevention, prevention of sexually transmitted diseases (“STDs”) including HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases, and reproductive health and safety education. As required by law and beginning in seventh grade, reproductive health and safety education will include age-appropriate instruction on sexual abstinence until marriage, STDs, the human reproductive system, effective contraceptive methods for preventing pregnancy and awareness of sexual assault and sexual abuse, and sex trafficking prevention and awareness. Physical Education and physical activity are integral to academic achievement and the emotional and physical health of our students. Research supports that healthy, active, fit children perform better academically, so keeping students safe, healthy, and ready to learn is our primary responsibility. Our Health & Physical Education curriculum emphasizes the value of physical activity and lifetime fitness. Students will learn how to balance proper nutrition with physical activity for ideal weight management. Physical education delivered in a quality environment emphasizes student learning and the mastering of skills which enable individuals to be physically active for a lifetime. All of our schools use the North Carolina Healthful Living Essential Standards as the guiding document for instruction in Health and Physical Education.
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