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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| HOUSE BILL |
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| INTRODUCED BY GINGRICH, FREEMAN, HARHART, HICKERNELL, KAUFFMAN, KOTIK, MANN, MILLARD, M. O'BRIEN, READSHAW, SONNEY, STEPHENS, TOOHIL, YOUNGBLOOD, CONKLIN, D. COSTA, BISHOP, FLECK, BAKER, EVERETT, M. K. KELLER, ROCK AND J. EVANS, APRIL 16, 2012 |
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| REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, APRIL 16, 2012 |
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| AN ACT |
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1 | Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An |
2 | act relating to the public school system, including certain |
3 | provisions applicable as well to private and parochial |
4 | schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the |
5 | laws relating thereto," in terms and courses of study, |
6 | providing for child exploitation awareness education. |
7 | The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |
8 | hereby enacts as follows: |
9 | Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known |
10 | as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a |
11 | section to read: |
12 | Section 1553.1. Child Exploitation Awareness Education.--(a) |
13 | School districts may incorporate child exploitation awareness |
14 | education that is age appropriate into the annual health |
15 | curriculum framework for students in kindergarten through eighth |
16 | grade. In developing such education, the school district shall |
17 | consult with at least one organization that addresses child |
18 | exploitation and serves the region where the school district is |
19 | located. |
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1 | (b) Child exploitation awareness education may include, but |
2 | need not be limited to, defining child exploitation, recognizing |
3 | types of child exploitation and creating awareness of warning |
4 | signs of child exploitation. |
5 | (c) In order to assist school districts, the department, |
6 | through its Office for Safe Schools, in consultation with at |
7 | least one organization addressing child exploitation, shall |
8 | develop a model curriculum that school districts may incorporate |
9 | into an existing annual health curriculum. The department shall |
10 | also provide age-appropriate educational materials regarding |
11 | child exploitation awareness for the purpose of assisting school |
12 | districts in preparing an instructional program on child |
13 | exploitation awareness. The department may use educational |
14 | materials that are already publicly available for this purpose. |
15 | (d) A parent or legal guardian of a participating student, |
16 | within a reasonable period of time after the request is made, |
17 | shall be permitted to examine the child exploitation awareness |
18 | education program instructional materials at the school in which |
19 | the student is enrolled. |
20 | (e) At the request of a parent or guardian, a student shall |
21 | be excused from all or parts of the child exploitation awareness |
22 | education program. The principal shall notify all parents or |
23 | guardians of their ability to withdraw their children from |
24 | instruction in the program by returning a signed opt-out form. |
25 | (f) For purposes of this section, the following words and |
26 | phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection |
27 | unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: |
28 | "Child exploitation." The term includes child abduction and |
29 | sexual abuse or exploitation. |
30 | "Sexual abuse or exploitation." Any of the following: |
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1 | (1) The employment, use, persuasion, inducement, enticement |
2 | or coercion of a child to engage in or assist another individual |
3 | to engage in sexually explicit conduct. |
4 | (2) The employment, use, persuasion, inducement, enticement |
5 | or coercion of a child to engage in or assist another individual |
6 | to engage in stimulation of sexually explicit conduct for the |
7 | purpose of producing visual depiction, including photographing, |
8 | videotaping, computer depicting and filming. |
9 | (3) Any of the following offenses committed against a child: |
10 | (i) Rape. |
11 | (ii) Sexual assault. |
12 | (iii) Involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. |
13 | (iv) Aggravated indecent assault. |
14 | (v) Molestation. |
15 | (vi) Incest. |
16 | (vii) Indecent exposure. |
17 | (viii) Prostitution. |
18 | (ix) Sexual abuse. |
19 | (x) Sexual exploitation. |
20 | Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days. |
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