Michigan is moving to rewrite how it teaches young people about health for the first time in almost two decades. The state’s Department of Education has released draft updates to its K-12 health education guidelines, a shift that will affect classrooms from Detroit to the Upper Peninsula if approved later this fall.
The last time Michigan set these standards was 2007. Back then, the opioid crisis had not yet reshaped families, smartphones weren’t in every student’s hand, and mental health had not taken over national headlines. Today, those issues sit at the heart of what schools are asked to navigate. That’s why state officials say the revisions are overdue.
“It is important to update our health education standards to better reflect current trends, terminology, and best practices, and to be more culturally responsive, especially around the topics of nutrition, safety, and social emotional and mental health,” said State Superintendent Dr. Michael F. Rice. “These standards support Goal 3 of Michigan’s Top 10 Strategic Education Plan, to improve the health, safety and wellness of all learners.”
The guidelines provide a framework for local school districts, though each district ultimately chooses whether and how to use them. They cover personal wellness, substance use, mental and emotional health, and sexual health. The updates shift the way the information is structured. Instead of setting expectations grade by grade, the new draft uses grade ranges, giving educators flexibility to meet students where they are developmentally.
Aimee Alaniz, who directs the department’s office of health and safety, told the State Board of Education that the focus has moved from “standards” to “practices.” She argued that the word “standard” suggests a fixed end point, while “practices” encourage students to keep building their skills. The language mirrors national health education updates approved last year and borrows heavily from Massachusetts’ most recent model.
That might sound technical, but the changes speak to bigger questions about what young people should learn in the classroom and who gets to decide. The state can adopt a framework, but parents, school boards, and local leaders shape how it shows up day to day.
Sexual health remains one of the most contested areas. Michigan’s draft leaves districts in control, requiring local boards to work with families and community members on how to approach the subject. But the revisions also carve out a separate space for “healthy relationships.” It signals that lessons on respect, communication, and consent belong in the curriculum, whether or not a district chooses to teach sexual health.
The update comes at a time when the pressures facing Michigan students look different than they did when the last standards were adopted. Youth mental health has emerged as a crisis across the country. The CDC has documented record levels of anxiety and depression among teens, especially girls and LGBTQ youth. Vaping has spread through middle and high schools. Opioid misuse continues to claim lives across Michigan, cutting into families in rural and urban communities alike.
Parental rights shape sexual health instruction if a district chooses to offer it.
Parents are to be notified of sex education instruction prior to lessons being taught. Parents have the right to review sex education curricula prior to instruction. Parents can exclude their child without penalty from some or all sex education instruction.
Under state law, districts decide what to include in sexual health lessons with input from their Sex Education Advisory Boards. Michigan requires those boards to be made up of at least 50 percent parents, making the state’s rules among the most comprehensive in the country. Advisory boards review student data and curricula, then provide recommendations to their district’s board of education for approval.
That process has played out in Detroit as well. In Detroit Public Schools Community District, Sex Education Advisory Boards have historically included not only parents but also community health advocates and representatives from local organizations working in HIV prevention and teen wellness. Their recommendations carry weight in shaping how the district balances parental concerns with public health priorities in a city where young people often face higher risks tied to poverty, limited healthcare access, and exposure to trauma.
Dr. Diane Golzynski, deputy superintendent for business, health, and library services at the Michigan Department of Education, said the broader purpose of the update is to better equip students with skills that last beyond the classroom. “The goal of health education is to develop young people who are health-literate and engage in practices that lead to an overall healthy lifestyle throughout their lives,” she said. “This updated version of Michigan’s standards is more robust and adds details and attention to the critical skills of comprehensive health education and makes links among students’ well-being, school performance and family involvement.”
In that context, the health classroom becomes one of the few spaces where students might get consistent, evidence-based guidance. Advocates say that makes it more urgent for Michigan to update its playbook, though how districts handle the responsibility will vary widely. Some may embrace the framework. Others may push back, especially around sexual health.
That tension is not new. Debates over what should be taught have played out in school board meetings for decades. But this time, the stakes feel sharper because the issues themselves—mental wellness, digital safety, substance misuse—are more visible in everyday life.
For educators, the update also raises questions about resources. Even the best framework only works if schools have the staff, training, and time to teach it. Health education is often crowded out by other academic requirements, and in some districts it is assigned to teachers who juggle multiple subjects. Without funding and support, the new practices may be difficult to sustain.
What Michigan is signaling, though, is a shift in philosophy. Health education is no longer framed as a box to be checked once in middle or high school. It is being presented as a continuous skill set that students refine throughout their education. That mirrors how public health experts talk about resilience—not as a single milestone but as something built over time.
The draft guidelines are open for public comment until October 10 on the Department of Education’s website. Parents, educators, and community members are invited to weigh in before the State Board votes on final approval. That public process ensures the changes won’t be made quietly. It also means that familiar debates over what belongs in Michigan’s classrooms are likely to surface again in the weeks ahead.
At its core, the revision is an acknowledgment that the health challenges facing young people in 2025 look nothing like those of 2007. Whether local schools adopt the changes fully, selectively, or not at all, the update reflects a recognition that preparing children for life requires more than math and reading. It requires giving them the tools to manage their bodies, their minds, and their relationships in a world that has only grown more complicated.
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