---
title: O.C.G.A. § 20-2-145. Comprehensive character education program.
collection: code
id: 20-2-145
cite_as: O.C.G.A. § 20-2-145 (2025)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/20-2-145
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/20-2-145.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/code/20-2-145/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/document/docs/default-source/joint-features-document-library/t20-ch1-2b-(v17)-pdf.pdf?sfvrsn=bfd7f2d1_0#page=54
date: 2025
status: active
corpus_version: 2025-supplement-89aa39ab3c68
license: CC0-1.0
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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version: the only printed version
in_force: true
current_through: Including Acts of the 2025 Regular Session of the General Assembly
heading_path: EDUCATION / ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION / QUALITY BASIC EDUCATION / COMPETENCIES AND CORE CURRICULUM
extraction_warnings:
  - dehyphenation_unverified:sports-manship
  - dehyphenation_unverified:discour-aging
---

# O.C.G.A. § 20-2-145. Comprehensive character education program.

(a) The State Board of Education shall develop by the start of the 1997-1998 school year a comprehensive character education program for levels K-12. This comprehensive character education program shall be known as the “character curriculum” and shall focus on the students’ development of the following character traits: courage, patriotism, citizenship, honesty, fairness, respect for others, kindness, cooperation, self-respect, self-control, courtesy, compassion, tolerance, diligence, generosity, punctuality, cleanliness, cheerfulness, school pride, respect for the environment, respect for the creator, patience, creativity, sportsmanship, loyalty, perseverance, and virtue. Such program shall also address, by the start of the 2025-2026 school year, methods of discouraging bullying and violent acts against fellow students and methods of promoting responsible digital citizenship and the safe and appropriate use of technology, the internet, and social media. Local governing bodies shall implement such a program in all grade levels at the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year and shall provide opportunities for parental involvement in establishing expected outcomes of the character education program.

(b) The Department of Education shall develop character education program workshops designed for public school employees.

## History

Code 1981, § 20-2-145, enacted by Ga. L. 1997, p. 1386, § 1; Ga. L. 1999, p. 362, § 2; Ga. L. 1999, p. 438, § 2; Ga. L. 2024, p. 298, § 2-1/SB 351, effective July 1, 2025.

## Editor's Notes

Ga. L. 2024, p. 298, § 1-1/SB 351, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: “This Act shall be known and may be cited as the ‘Protecting Georgia’s Children on Social Media Act of 2024.’”

## Law Reviews

For article on the 2024 amendment of this Code section, see 41 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 209 (2024).

## Amendments

The 2024 amendment, effective July 1, 2025, in subsection (a), in the third sentence, substituted “2025-2026” for “1999-2000” and added “and methods of promoting responsible digital citizenship and the safe and appropriate use of technology, the internet, and social media” at the end, and, in the last sentence, substituted “governing bodies” for “boards” and “2025-2026” for “2000-2001”; and, in subsection (b), inserted “public school” and deleted “of local school systems”.