Grief Education in New Jersey: From Legislation to the Classroom

In January 2024, New Jersey took an important step toward helping young people navigate an experience that will touch every one of their lives: grief.

Governor Phil Murphy signed P.L.2023, c.201 into law, requiring grief and loss education to be incorporated into the New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Comprehensive Health and Physical Education (CHPE). The law requires school districts to provide grief instruction for students in grades 8–12 as part of their implementation of those standards. New Jersey became the first state in the nation to mandate grief education, paving the way for other states to follow.

More than two years later, you may be wondering: If the law passed in 2024, why are we talking about it now? And that is a very good question, with a somewhat complicated answer.

The answer comes down to timing and how the legislation was written. While the law took effect immediately, it directed the State Board of Education to incorporate grief education concurrently with the next update of the CHPE New Jersey Student Learning Standards. 

Last updated in 2020, the CHPE standards are now moving through a comprehensive review and revision process. Proposed changes are reviewed for alignment with current research and evidence-based practices, developed by writing committees made up of New Jersey educators and subject-matter experts, and considered through the lens of implementation in schools. Members of the New Jersey Grief Collaborative have participated in this process, bringing expertise in childhood bereavement, grief education, and the needs of grieving students and families to the conversation. The process also examines how the standards prepare students to apply their knowledge and skills beyond the classroom and into adulthood.

That process is now approaching an important next stage: the proposed standards will be released for public comment.

As the Department of Education moves through this review and revision process, this is an important moment for schools to understand what the legislation requires and consider what meaningful grief education can look like.

What Does the Law Require?

P.L.2023, c.201 requires grief instruction for students in grades 8–12 to include, at minimum:

• resources available to students, including in-school support, mental health crisis support, and individual and group therapy.
• the physical, emotional, and behavioral symptoms of grief;
• coping mechanisms and techniques for handling grief and loss; and

Grief Literacy Is Education, Not Intervention

Students do not need to be actively grieving in order to benefit from learning about grief.

We teach young people about many experiences before they encounter them personally. We help students develop communication skills before difficult conversations happen. We teach health and safety before a crisis occurs. We provide information about mental health so that students can recognize when they, or someone they care about, may need support (including where to access resources.)

Grief education can work the exact same way.

The goal is not to turn teachers into grief counselors or ask students to process personal losses in the classroom. Instead, developmentally appropriate grief education can help students understand that grief is a natural response to loss, recognize some of the many ways grief can affect people, identify healthy coping skills, and know where support is available. 

It can also help students understand something equally important: there is no “right” way to grieve.

Why This Matters

Grief is already present in our schools.

Students experience the deaths of parents, siblings, grandparents, friends, classmates, teachers, and other important people in their lives. Young people will have non-death losses in their lives such as the end of relationships, moving schools, or family separation. They will also find themselves sitting beside grieving peers, sometimes unsure what to say or how to help.

In spite of it being all around us, many young people encounter death, loss, and grief with very little language for understanding and expressing what they are experiencing.

When students have accurate information about grief before or alongside their own experiences, we can help normalize the wide range of thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and physical responses that may accompany loss. We can introduce coping strategies, reinforce the importance of connection and support, and make it easier for students to identify trusted adults and other resources when they need them.

This is proactive education—not because grief can be prevented, but because young people can be better prepared to navigate it.

Moving from Mandate to Meaningful Learning

Meeting a legislative requirement and creating meaningful learning are not necessarily the same thing.

As schools consider how grief education fits in with their existing Health and Physical Education curriculum, we hope that they will think beyond simply checking a box.

Effective grief education should be:

• Developmentally appropriate
• Culturally responsive
• Grounded in current research
• Flexible enough to recognize the diversity of students’ experiences

It should create psychological safety for the adults and students in the classroom. Everyone should be able to learn without being required to disclose personal experiences or participate in activities that place them in the position of processing a loss publicly. Students should leave the classroom with greater understanding, not greater fear.

Good Grief and the New Jersey Grief Collaborative Are Here to Help

For more than 20 years, Good Grief has supported grieving children, teens, young adults, and families and worked alongside schools and communities to build a better understanding of childhood bereavement.

As New Jersey schools prepare to incorporate grief education into their curricula, Good Grief and the other partner organizations at the New Jersey Grief Collaborative offer resources and support for schools and educators; including professional development, grief-education resources, school-based programming, and curriculum designed to help schools approach grief with confidence and care.

The passage of P.L.2023, c.201 was an important milestone. The work ahead is turning that mandate into learning that is thoughtful, useful, and meaningful for New Jersey students.

Because grief education isn’t about preparing young people for something that might happen. Loss is a part of life. Grief education can help ensure that young people don’t have to navigate it without language, understanding, or knowledge of where to find support.

Join us in creating a more grief-informed world, starting with New Jersey.

Learn more about the New Jersey Grief Collaborative at: https://njgriefcollaborative.org/

About Good Grief, Inc.

Good Grief is a non-profit organization whose mission is to build resilience in children, strengthen families, and empower communities to grow from loss and adversity. With centers in Princeton and Morristown, New Jersey, Good Grief provides free, open-ended support to children, teens, and young adults after the death of a parent or sibling. Through school and community programs across the country, Good Grief helps children and their communities build resilience to overcome loss and adversity.