Massachusetts Legislation
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Massachusetts S.315/H.689
Jointly filed by Senate Majority Leader Cynthia Creem and Representative Amy Mah Sangiolo, January 2025
An Act to Remodel Public School Sports through Social Emotional Learning
Bill S.315/H.689
Section 37O of chapter 71 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting at the end thereof the following:
- The department of elementary and secondary education shall publish, on or before (TBD), guidelines for the implementation of social and emotional learning curricula in middle and high school athletic programs.
Such curricula shall include, but shall not be limited to, explicitly teaching students and coaches how to:
- create safe, supportive and bias-free team cultures;
- provide students age-appropriate leadership roles role in making decisions and carrying out responsibilities within the team framework, including empowering students to speak up and report behaviors that are contrary to a safe, supportive and bias-free culture;
- formulate lessons and guidance that address hate, bias and negative behaviors to foster healthy, responsible norms on sports teams;
- build and sustain positive relationships with others; and
- develop such other skills that will assist them in overcoming physical, social, and emotional obstacles in athletic competition and in their lives, such as emotion and stress management, building and sustaining positive relationships with others, self-discipline and self-motivation, setting personal and collective goals, resisting negative social pressure, conflict resolution, ethical decision making and problem solving.