Students as young as 13 years old will now be taught about anal sex and pregnancy options such as abortion as the New Jersey Board of Education moves to implement new state-wide sex ed standards that were adopted in June 2020.
The schools are required to implement them beginning this month despite protests from parents and school districts. The state Department of Education has already warned that schools who fail to implement the new standards may face discipline, even a loss of funding.
According to the New Jersey standards, by eighth grade, students should “describe pregnancy testing, the signs of pregnancy, and pregnancy options, including parenting, abortion, and adoption;” and “define vaginal, oral, and anal sex.”
Students are also expected to “differentiate between gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation,” and schools should “develop a plan … to promote dignity and respect for people of all genders, gender identities, gender expressions, and sexual orientations in the school community.”
Jamaica’s Ministry of Education received widespread backlash in 2014, when special interest groups sought to quietly introduce lessons about anal and oral sex as part of a Comprehensive Sexual Education Programme for schools. Several stakeholders, including the church protested the move because they felt it, among other things, normalized homosexuality. The sexual education course was introduced into six private children’s homes by a local human-rights group, and taught that “vaginal sex, anal sex and oral sex are forms of sexual penetration”, with no reference to the fact that anal sex is illegal in Jamaica.
In the case of New Jersey, Acting Education Commissioner, Angelica Allen-McMillan issued a memo on April 14 that teaching children about “vaginal, oral, and anal sex, is “foundational to keeping [students] safe and protecting themselves from pressure, dating violence, and assault.” Four state board of education members then penned an open letter to her, expressing concern about the sex education standards and their implementation, taking into consideration the views of parents.
“[W]e are hoping the committee and department will recommend removing some of the more controversial and graphic language as well as reexamine the age appropriateness of the grade at which some of these topics are recommended to be taught,” they wrote.
