October 13, 2025 

Dear Colleagues,

As students settle into school routines this October, educators have an opportunity to reinforce safety, belonging, and healthy relationships. October is Bullying Prevention Month, and the newly updated Erin’s Law Toolkit provides standards-aligned lessons to help students recognize bullying, understand its causes, and feel empowered to prevent it.  Health Education Standards in the “violence prevention and equitable relationships” and “bullying, harassment, and intimidation” topics (K-5 on p.18 and 6-12 on p. 42), can guide students in navigating differences and managing conflict—skills shown to reduce bullying and violence.

High-quality and coherent sexuality education that covers healthy relationships, friendships, communication, and online safety  is an essential part of this work across the state. Data from Oregon’s Student Health Survey highlight disparities in access to education on healthy relationships: only 64% of students in frontier school districts reported learning about respectful relationships, compared to 80% of urban students. Additionally, lesbian, gay, and bisexual students in rural areas experience higher rates of bullying, with nearly half reporting they had been bullied, compared to 34% in urban areas. Lessons and professional learning from the Erin’s Law Toolkit equip educators to address these disparities and support all students in building safe and equitable relationships.

This newsletter contains updates and new releases from the Oregon Department of Education, resources to uplift menstrual dignity, and many other resources to support comprehensive sexuality education.

Header photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash, Newberg, OR

October is Substance Use Prevention Month

New substance use prevention and intervention resources are available on the ODE Substance Use Prevention and Intervention webpage. These resources include new K-12 substance use prevention lessons that align with the Health Education Standards and help students build protective skills such as decision-making, communicating boundaries, and seeking help from trusted sources. Additionally, schools can use the new Communications Toolkit to share strengths-based prevention messaging with students, staff and families. For questions and support, please contact the Substance Use Prevention Education Coordinator at ode.substance-prevention@ode.oregon.gov.

Interest Survey: Oregon Teacher Training Institute (OTTI) Sex Ed Professional Learning Opportunity

The OTTI team is planning its OTTI K-12 Sexuality Education professional development course for the 2025-26 school year. OTTI offers a full-day, in-person K-12 professional learning for educators and administrators to deliver comprehensive sexuality education as part of health instruction, focusing on healthy relationships, transformative social and emotional learning, child abuse prevention education, and healthy sexuality throughout the lifespan. OTTI workshops are delivered in partnership with Oregon Department of Human Services, Oregon Health Authority, and other local partners.

Interested in having an OTTI Sex Ed Training in your area? 

Please fill out this survey

OTTI Sex Ed Training Interest Survey

Release: 2025 State of the Period Study

A new study by PERIOD, Thinx, Inc. and the Harris Poll found that nearly a quarter (24%) of U.S. teens still struggle to afford menstrual products, and one in three (33%) report missing class time due to lack of access. However, there are positive signs that show the benefit of statewide action, such as the Menstrual Dignity Act: access in schools is improving: 39% of students reported that they couldn’t find menstrual products in school bathrooms in 2025, down from 52% in 2023. 

An important component of the Menstrual Dignity for Students program in Oregon focuses on education and ensuring that menstruation is discussed as a positive part of human development. Unfortunately, the newly published report also showed that stigma around menstruation is increasing—62% of youth say that they are taught to be ashamed of their periods, up two percentage points since 2023. This shame weighs most heavily on Latino/a/x/e students, with 67% reporting receiving such messages (compared to 63% of White and 51% of Black students). Oregon resources and tools to address the harmful effects of stigma can be found in the Menstrual Dignity Toolkit.

Infographic

State of the Period Study

New Release: My Future- My Choice Revised Edition

The My Future-My Choice curriculum has released its 2025-2026 revised edition on the MFMC website. The lessons are free to use and are designed to meet all Oregon Sexuality Education Standards and sexuality education laws. The website contains full lessons, handouts, slide decks and links to videos used in the lessons. If you have questions, please reach out to MFMCProgram@odhs.oregon.gov. .