This is not a full course outline, but a guide on what to check in Health textbooks and how to improve them.
Health textbooks should:
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"Marriage" and "family" should not mean just "two adults," "two people," "two individuals," "partners," or "a couple," but must specify men and women, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers (same-sex "marriage" and "civil unions" are illegal in Texas).
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"Romantic affection" should not mean attraction to "other people," but to the opposite sex.
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"Gender identity" should not mean "sexual orientation," implying that homosexuality is innate, not learned.
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"Cultures" should not mean "behaviors," normalizing homosexuality under guise of multiculturalism.
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"Parenting" should not include homosexual "adoptions."
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Respect the personhood of the preborn child by referring to the developing baby, not to "developing cells," the "growing organism," or a "fetus."
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Call the preborn child "he or she"/"him or her," not a fetal "it."
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Picture how soon preborn babies look human.
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Do not enshrine abortion as the moral equivalent of childbirth.
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Keep sex ed illustrations age-appropriate, not class-disruptive; representational, not sensational; clinical, not titillating.
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Render external sex organs in artwork, not photos; as cross-sections of side views, not frontal views of full figures.
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Present abstinence, not condoms, as protection against pregnancy and STDs.
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Include affective and psychomotor as well as cognitive levels in abstinence-based sex ed.
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Discuss emotional/ethical harm of sexual activity outside marriage.
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Emphasize monogamy and marital fidelity.
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Stress self-discipline, deferred gratification, high ethical conduct, excellence, maximizing potential, and ability to self-examine and self-criticize.
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Reject idle self-contemplation, underachievement, and non-competitiveness.
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Explain that in the U.S. since the 1970s:
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Fresh water contamination has fallen 80-90%, based on pollution levels in fish.
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According to the EPA, air pollution by sulfur dioxide has dropped 70%, by nitrogen oxide has fallen 43%, by carbon monoxide has declined 75%, and by lead is down 98%.
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Clarify that much pollution is not man-made:
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Termite digestive processes emit ca. 50 billion tons of CO2 and methane each year – 10 times the CO2 from fossil fuels burned annually.
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Decayed organic matter, volcanoes, and lightning produce at least 50% of the sulfur and nitrogen in acid rain.
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Cite the inverse relationship between asthma and industrial air pollution:
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Developing nations with more industrial air pollution have less asthma.
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Developed nations with less industrial air pollution have better insulated homes (fouler air), more time spent indoors (computers, videos, TV), and more asthma.
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Asthma may correlate with obesity.
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Tell how free-market prices equalize supply and demand, promote voluntary conservation, bring more of a resource to market, and encourage using substitutes.
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Contrast natural scarcity of resources, with artificial shortages due to government price ceilings.
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Note benefits of population growth, such as better transportation to larger markets and more creativity.
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Refer to the constitutional right to bear arms.
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Differentiate between minors and non-felon adults possessing firearms.
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Acknowledge the possible role of gun ownership in preventing violence.
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