Section 71:98 - Instruction on the history of genocide for middle and high school students(a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings: "Community-based organization", a public or private non-profit organization that:
(i) is representative of a community or significant segments of a community; and (ii) provides educational or related services to individuals in the community. "Genocide", at least 1 of the following acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group:
(i) killing members of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group; (ii) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group; (iii) deliberately inflicting conditions of life of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group in a manner calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the group, in whole or in part; (iv) imposing measures intended to prevent births within a national, ethnic, racial or religious group; or (v) forcibly transferring children of a national, ethnic, racial or religious group to another national, ethnic, racial or religious group.(b) Every school district shall, for the purpose of educating middle and high school students, provide instruction on the history of genocide consistent with the content standards articulated in the history and social science curriculum framework adopted by the board of elementary and secondary education; provided, however, that a school district may partner with a community-based organization, including, but not limited to, municipal human rights commissions and other relevant community stakeholders, to implement genocide education programming for the purpose of educating middle and high school students on the history of genocide. Instruction on genocide shall be taught consistent with the history and social science curriculum framework to:
(i) promote the teaching of human rights issues in all public schools and school districts, with particular attention to the study of the inhumanity of genocide; (ii) address the history and patterns of genocide that demonstrate how hatred against national, ethnic, racial or religious groups impacts nations and societies; and (iii) reject the targeting of a specific population and other forms of prejudice that can lead to violence and genocide.(c) The department shall assist schools in providing: (i) instruction on the history of genocide by facilitating access to high-quality curricular materials which address the underlying causes, international reaction, progression and aftermath of genocide; and (ii) professional development training, including the provision of trainings, seminars, conferences and materials, for educators to use in the teaching of genocide.(d) Nothing in this section shall require a school district to require genocide instruction in every year of middle school and high school; provided, however, that genocide education and instruction shall be utilized during appropriate times in middle and high school curricula, as determined by the local school district.(e) The department may provide trainings, seminars, conferences and materials for educators and community-based organizations to use in the teaching of genocide in person or through the use of synchronous or asynchronous audio, video, electronic media or other telecommunications technology.Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 71, § 98
Added by Acts 2021, c. 98,§ 4, eff. 4/1/2022.