Howard County Public School Curriculum

Proposal: 9th Grade Health Education

Healthy Relationships Unit
Simone John-Vanderpool
And
Risa Garon

Purpose: The purpose of developing and adding a healthy relationships unit to the Howard County health
curriculum is to educate Howard County students in the field of healthy relationship building. Endowing
students with these skills will improve their ability to develop positive relationships with their peers and
equip them with tools to overcome future relationship challenges, and as a result potentially improve their
long-term health.
Background: Around 40% of all marriages end in divorce1 and although sometimes these arrangements
are for the best, the transitions in these households can have substantial impacts on the children and
economic stability of those households. Research has shown that children from divorced households can
develop issues with self-esteem, peer relations, depression, and even drug abuse 1. Some research has also
suggested that children whose parents are divorced are more likely to divorce their future spouses than
children whose parents stay together2. Economically, divorce often leads to single parent households
which, by way of logic and research, have often resulted in less financial resources for the family 1.
Women are more likely to receive custody of children and are also 25% more likely to experience poverty
in the five years following their divorce.1 This is less money that could be potentially invested in a childs
education and even health care. Divorce can also have negative psychological and health consequences
for the parents involved, including depression3. Many students also live in homes where healthy
relationships are not modeled. This can be due to many factors including the parents relationship in a
divorce, the mental illness of a parent, or even the witnessed domestic violence of a parent. In an effort to
prevent future divorces and/or unsafe relationships (ex. dating violence), a unit focused on developing
healthy relationships may offer an alternative, more positive model for relationships for students who do
not have access to them, provide a foundation for students to be able to make more informed decisions
regarding relationships and the ones they choose to develop (including but not limited to their romantic
relationships), effectively solve problems within them, and improve their overall health.
Proposed Curriculum Addition:
9th Grade Health Education Objectives
Unit: Building Healthy Relationships
Content Concepts

Identify the tenets of healthy relationships and learn how to implement them
Communication
- Listening
- Assertiveness
Boundaries
- Importance of boundaries
- Different types of Boundaries
- Familial/Friend vs. Partner relationship boundaries
1 Brackett, Kimberly P., and Donald Woolley. "Divorce." Encyclopedia of Contemporary American Social Issues. Ed. Michael
Shally-Jensen. Vol. 3: Family and Society. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2011. 882-891. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web.
2 Jan. 2016.

2 Wallerstein, Judith, Julia Lewis, and Sandra Blakeslee, The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce. New York: Hyperion, 2000.
3 Aseltine Jr, Robert H., and Ronald C. Kessler. "Marital disruption and depression in a community sample." Journal of Health
and Social Behavior(1993): 237-251.

Support

Commitment

Fostering a mutually encouraging relationship

Importance of Commitment
Types of commitment

Honesty/Reliability
Jealousy

Trust
Respect
- Significance
- Familial vs. Partner respect
Understand love and its societal and personal implications
Types of love
- Six love types
- Familial love and partner love
Dating
- Rituals across cultures
- How to implement relationship tenets within dating
Marriage and alternative relationship models
- Different types of unions
- Components of Marriage
Family
- Families across cultures
- Components of family
Analyzing Influences
Analyze societal and familial influences on the idea of love and relationships
Accessing Information
Access valid sources, services, and information for healthy relationship advice
Breaking down personal barriers to accessing information about healthy relationship building
Interpersonal Communication
Learn the essential role of communication in building and maintaining relationships
Learn how to effectively communicate within relationships
Decision Making
Learn how to effectively approach decision making and compromise in relationships
Implementation: Because the health curriculum already supports many of these ideas throughout other
units, but does not specifically explain them relative to creating healthy relationships as a separate
element of a positive lifestyle, the proposed unit needs around 12 days of instruction time to complete, a
minimum of 10 days instruction time would provide an adequate overview. The elements of healthy
relationships can be grouped together over a few classes, not exceeding four, and love, dating, marriage,
and family can be taught over another several days. Ideally, the influences, information, communication,
and decision-making aspects would be incorporated into over all lessons as well as interactive activities to
better convey the points of these lessons. In order to assess the growth of each student, a pre and post-test
would be recommended. Taking into account that the Howard County health curriculum lets it teachers
decide how each unit will be taught and how much time will be given to it, the above outline is only a
suggestion of how the unit might work best within the curriculum. I would be happy to run a five-day
pilot program to test the viability of this curriculum addition.

Conclusion: The addition of a healthy relationship unit to the ninth grade curriculum would greatly
benefit the emotional, social, and physical health of Howard County students as well as, potentially, the
future health of Howard County communities. By the end of the course students should be able to practice
healthy communication skills, identify Although aspects of healthy relationships are taught throughout the
current ninth grade curriculum, a unit focusing solely on the in depth analysis and application of these
aspects to every day life may strengthen students understanding of the importance of forming healthy
relationships and the interconnectedness between relationships and general health.