New Jersey imposes controversial sex ed on schools

Schools must teach children about explicit sex acts and promote abortion, a US state has said.

New Jersey’s sex education curriculum presents abortion as a ‘healthy pregnancy option’, and requires that children as young as thirteen learn about “anal sex”.

Earlier this year, parents in New Jersey expressed outrage at Department of Education plans to introduce gender identity lessons for six-year-olds under the same programme.

Content

Between 13 and 14 years of age, according to the new standards, children are expected to be able to define “vaginal, oral, and anal sex”.

For “pregnancy options”, including abortion, the document requires that: “Healthy individuals demonstrate the ability to identify who, when where and/or how to seek help for oneself or others.”

Schools have been told that failure to comply with the guidelines, issued at the beginning of September, will result in “disciplinary action”.

‘Harmful and offensive’

Speaking to Fox News, one concerned mother from Berkeley Heights school district called the standards “harmful and offensive”.

She went on to describe the content on abortion and sex acts as “an insult to parents and destructive to our children”.

Under New Jersey law, parents may withdraw their children from sex education classes if the teaching “conflicts with their conscience or sincerely held moral or religious beliefs”.