A Comprehensive Guide to Comprehensive Health

Comprehensive Health class was added this year to the curriculum of the graduating class of 2027 and beyond. The Department of Education says that this semester-long course equips students with the necessary knowledge and skills for lifelong health. It focuses on teaching core functional skills such as goal setting, advocacy, interpersonal communication, analyzing influences, self-management, decision-making, and accessing comprehensive health information.Health education is either encouraged or required for all grades in all states' laws. Technically, the class is supposed to teach teenagers how to take care of themselves in most aspects of life. However, practically speaking, how much will it help them? 

Student counselor Lindsey Vesceri says, “I do think that it is positive, that everyone is guaranteed the same information regardless of what school you attend or what resources are at that school”. However, Lisa Smith, teacher of the class stated, “The material they want us to teach them is a bit redundant and there might be a better way to teach it”.

Credits-wise, Health class will give academic credits, which are also received in world languages and AVID. “As students move up in grades and become upperclassmen, a lot of students choose to take extra social studies or science and for graduation purposes that counts as an elective and colleges see that and think the student went above and beyond” says Lindsey Vesceri. However, colleges try to understand your personality through the classes you choose; because this class is mandatory, it unfortunately won’t help in that department. 

Since the method of teaching Health Class is similar to the Drug Use education class American Addiction centers did in 2023 around the Midwest of the US. They did a survey for teens and young adults to understand what takeaways the students had. The results were surprising: only one in five students felt like they received a very comprehensive drug education, however 47% of students said that the program made them want to avoid drugs at all costs and only 19% of students said it didn’t affect them in any way. Those statistics tell us that education regarding substance abuse and general well being of students worked, and we can only expect that the results would be similar with the new health class. 

Violete, a transfer student from Denver School of Arts that has already taken this class her freshman year gave some insight about it.  “I didn’t like it, but it was mainly just because we had a teacher that was, like, incompetent. It taught a little about nutrition which was helpful, but mainly it seemed to be promoting counting calories and teaching things I already knew (in terms of sex ed.)”.  

At the end of the day students have to understand that this class was added to the curriculum for a reason. Many people dislike math or sciences but understand that those are necessary classes that they need to take to graduate. Students also need to understand that not everybody has had the same resources or has been taught these important topics at home, so it is only fair that everybody has the same access to said information.