South Carolina H 3317: Dating violence prevention

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3317 Text of Previous Version (Dec. 06, 2024) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3317

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH 
CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY AMENDING SECTION 59-32-10, RELATING TO DEFINITIONS FOR 
PURPOSES OF THE COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH EDUCATION ACT, SO AS TO DEFINE "DATING 
VIOLENCE" AND "DATING" OR "DATING RELATIONSHIP"; BY AMENDING SECTIONS 59-32-20, 
59-32-30, AND 59-32-50, ALL RELATING TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE COMPREHENSIVE 
HEALTH EDUCATION ACT, ALL SO AS TO REQUIRE THE INCLUSION OF DATING VIOLENCE 
EDUCATION IN THE COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH EDUCATION CURRICULUM AND MAKE CONFORMING 
CHANGES; BY ADDING SECTION 59-32-35 SO AS TO REQUIRE LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS TO 
DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT A POLICY ON THE TOPIC OF DATING VIOLENCE, AND TO ANNUALLY 
SUBMIT A REPORT TO THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION AND THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC 
HEALTH IDENTIFYING THE INDIVIDUAL SCHOOLS OFFERING DATING VIOLENCE EDUCATION IN 
COMPLIANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THIS CHAPTER, AND THE NUMBER OF INSTANCES OF 
DATING VIOLENCE REPORTED AND ADDRESSED BY EACH SCHOOL; AND BY ADDING SECTION 
59-101-220 SO AS TO REQUIRE PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING TO DEVELOP 
AND IMPLEMENT A POLICY ON THE TOPIC OF DATING VIOLENCE, AND TO ANNUALLY 
MAINTAIN A REPORT DETAILING THE INSTITUTION'S COMPLIANCE WITH THIS REQUIREMENT 
AND IDENTIFYING THE NUMBER OF INSTANCES OF DATING VIOLENCE REPORTED AND 
ADDRESSED BY THE INSTITUTION.

Be it enacted by the 
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 59-32-10 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

 (8) "Dating violence" means physical, 
sexual, psychological, or emotional violence between persons eighteen years of 
age or younger within a dating relationship.

 (9) "Dating" 
or "dating relationship" means an ongoing social relationship of a romantic or 
intimate nature between two persons. These terms do not include a casual 
relationship or ordinary fraternization between two persons in a business or 
social context.

SECTION 2. Section 59-32-20(A) of the S.C. Code is amended to 
read:

 (A) Before August 
1, 1988, the The board, through the 
department, shall select or develop an instructional unit with separate 
components addressing the subjects of reproductive health education, family 
life education, pregnancy prevention education, and 
sexually transmitted diseases, and dating violence 
education, and make the instructional unit available to local school 
districts. The board, through the department, also shall make available 
information about other programs developed by other states upon request of a 
local school district.

SECTION 3. Section 59-32-30 (A) and (B) of the S.C. Code is 
amended to read:

 (A) Pursuant to guidelines developed by 
the board, each local school board shall implement the following program of 
instruction:

 (1) 
Beginning with the 1988-89 school year, for For grades kindergarten through five, instruction in 
comprehensive health education must include the following subjects: community 
health, consumer health, environmental health, growth and development, 
nutritional health, personal health, prevention and control of diseases and 
disorders, safety and accident prevention, substance use and abuse, dental 
health, and mental and emotional health. Sexually transmitted diseases as 
defined in the annual Department of Public Health and Environmental Control List of Reportable Diseases are 
to be excluded from instruction on the prevention and control of diseases and 
disorders. At the discretion of the local board, age-appropriate instruction in 
reproductive health may be included.

 (2) 
Beginning with the 1988-1989 school year, for For grades six through eight, instruction in 
comprehensive health must include the following subjects: community health, 
consumer health, environmental health, growth and development, nutritional 
health, personal health, prevention and control of diseases and disorders, 
safety and accident prevention, substance use and abuse, dental health, mental 
and emotional health, and reproductive health 
education, and dating violence education. Sexually 
transmitted diseases are to be included as a part of instruction. At the 
discretion of the local board, instruction in family life education or 
pregnancy prevention education or both may be included, but instruction in 
these subjects may not include an explanation of the methods of contraception 
before the sixth grade. Beginning with the 2016-2017 school year, for grades 
six through eight, instruction in comprehensive health education also must 
include the subject of domestic violence.

 (3) 
Beginning with the 1989-90 school year, at At least one time during the four years of grades nine 
through twelve, each student shall receive instruction in comp