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.

The guidelines provide a framework for local school districts, though each district ultimately chooses whether and how to use them.

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