Quality physical education programs taught by well-trained physical education specialists are an integral part of the total education of a child. This Digest describes the history and development of national standards for physical education by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE). In 1995, NASPE published a general…

This Digest discusses the role of the school, the community, and teacher preparation programs in alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD) prevention among adolescents. It proposes that a comprehensive drug abuse prevention curriculum should incorporate: (1) normative education to help students realize that use of ATOD is not the norm for…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) find that most major health problems in the United States today are caused by six categories of behavior. Comprehensive school health education programs represent one effective way of providing students with the knowledge and skills to prevent health-impairing impairing behaviors. The purpose of…

Experts agree that prevention through education is the best way to fight the transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which causes Acquired Immune Deficiency (AIDS). However, the capacity of teachers to provide instruction about AIDS and other related health problems with knowledge and comfort may be limited by a lack of preservice…