Reimer says families don’t want topics taught in school even though parents can opt kids out
OCEAN CITY – The president of the Ocean City Tabernacle told local school board members they did not want to be linked forever with instituting parts of the state health curriculum that include gender confusion, human sexuality and abortion.
During public comment at the Wednesday evening, March 23, Ocean City Board of Education meeting, Pastor Jay Reimer said the board – and not state politicians – should have final say over curriculum and have the power to keep certain topics from being taught. He provided a handout on the state’s curriculum guidelines that highlighted areas of concern in second, fifth, eighth and 12th grades.
“Parents have the fundamental right to direct the upbringing and education of their children,” Reimer said, reading off the cover page of his handout. “I’ve been trying to encourage you since the October meeting to stand up against the curriculum directed down by the governor, the legislators, and the state board of education,” he said, referring to it as part of an agenda.
He wanted to make it clear he “didn’t believe there should be bullying of any kind of students at the school and all students should be accepted for who they are. That’s not where I’m going with this. Where I’m going is there are certain things related to values and morals that parents should have the authority, not someone coming in as a potential role model to share things as fact when the truth is they’re not.”
Reimer said the school curriculum directors would be presenting curriculum in the next month or two to be approved for next school year and that there was “no reason to believe they’re not going to recommend these things as written by the state.
“There is an opportunity to not do that,” he said.
“You were voted in to represent the parents and families of Ocean City and not to represent the state of New Jersey and those leaders who are trying to mandate these things,” Reimer said. “We would hope you would not allow your names to forever be in the records as the school board members … who are going to be on the internet forever as the ones who brought these things to our school district.”
He challenged the board members to look through the documents and learning standards in his handout and cited problem areas including gender confusion, human sexuality and abortion as a pregnancy option.
He asserted these things would be taught in school because interest groups funded the candidates behind them.
He said by eighth grade students are taught to identify vaginal, anal or oral sex, and how to use contraceptives for each one, including something called a dental dam, “which I can only imagine what that’s trying to train a student to do.”
Reimer asked why teachers would be forced to teach that if it is against their own standards, values and morals. “How can that legally stand?” Values and morals should be left up to the parents, not up to the school curriculum taught by strangers, he said.
He said if board members didn’t think these things were getting into the curriculum locally, he pointed to a teacher training guide in the district which included labeling the following statement as true or false: A transgender or gender nonconforming student should be addressed by the pronoun and name of the student’s choosing. (The answer was true.)
“If a parent was involved in that, I would agree with it, but the parents are intentionally excluded,” Reimer asserted, adding if a parent tries to wedge their way into that conversation between a teacher and student, the parent can be charged with parental child abuse. “It’s ridiculous. That’s the mindset behind these things.
“I’m challenging you as the final level of protection for the students in Ocean City to stand up,” Reimer said.
Parents can opt children out of sex education
Board member Cecelia Gallelli-Keyes was the only one to address Reimer during board comments later at the meeting. She told him parents are able to opt their children out of sex education, but said some parents had difficulty finding out how to do that. She suggested including a form in their information packet at the beginning of the school year.
“Maybe if we do something more easier for them,” Gallelli-Keyes said of parents, making them aware of their ability to opt out. “Let it fall onto the parents making the choices for their kids.”
Highlighting areas of concern amid a broader curriculum
Reimer provided a handout showing the broader health curriculum and highlighted his particular areas of concern.
Among topics taught by second grade, there were 12 items under both Emotional Health and Social and Sexual Health. He highlighted one that said, “Discus the range of ways people express their gender and how gender-role stereotypes may limit behavior.”
Other topics in that area included how individuals choose to express themselves, how families keep their children safe, determining factors that contribute to healthy relationships, identifying basic social needs of all people and healthy ways to express feelings. The topics also include personal responsibility, the meaning of character, demonstrating self-control and healthy ways to cope with stressful situations.
Masturbation, gender identity
Under personal and mental health being taught by the end of fifth grade, Reimer highlighted “masturbation,” which was in a list of explanations about sexual development and the role of hormones including romantic and sexual feelings, mood swings and the onset of puberty.
Other areas in that curriculum included personal health strategies such as wellness, nutrition and physical activity; puberty changes including the body, social and emotional; and identifying trusted adults with whom students can ask questions.
Among other topics were the relationship between sexual intercourse and pregnancy and how pregnancy can occur, how feelings affect behaviors, how to cope with rejection, identifying emotions and how they’re expressed, and where to go for help during difficult situations.
In the same age range, Reimer also noted two other areas of concern: describing gender-role stereotypes and the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity.
Also included in that section were topics of promoting dignity and respect for all people, how families can share common values, communication with family and trusted adults, healthy versus unhealthy relationships and definitions of teasing, harassment and bullying.
Pregnancy options, abortion, types of sexual activity
For curriculum in the eighth grade, Reimer highlighted “pregnancy options” and “abortion” which were among a list including pregnancy testing, signs of pregnancy, parenting and adoption. Also in that curriculum are learning the stages of pregnancy, challenges faced by adolescent parents and their families, personal health, the human reproductive system, stress management and how to support mental and emotional health.
Reimer highlighted for concern a range of other topics in the eighth grade curriculum.
They include differentiating between gender identify, gender expression and sexual orientation; the differences between friends, romantic relationships and sexual relationships; factors important in deciding whether and when to engage in sexual behaviors; factors that can affect the ability to give consent to sexual activity including body image, self-esteem, alcohol and other substances; defining vaginal, oral and anal sex; contraception methods including condoms and abstinence; and developing a plan to eliminate or reduce the risk of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
Contraception, STDs
By the end of 12th grade, the curriculum includes more on mental and emotional health, predicting healthy and unhealthy behaviors going into adulthood and finding trusted adults to talk about health topics including pregnancy.
Among areas Reimer cited as concern were a comparison of contraceptive and disease prevention methods including abstinence, condoms, emergency contraceptives and dental dams; and a plan to eliminate or reduce risk for unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections; factors influencing decisions about pregnancy options that include parenting, abortion, safe havens and adoption.
He also noted the topics of looking at influences about expression of gender, sexual orientation and identity; and choices about safer sex methods and contraception.
Under the same curriculum, other areas to be taught include promoting dignity and respect for people of all genders, identities and orientations; strategies to prevent or resolve conflicts without harming others or yourself; respecting other people’s intimacy boundaries; and factors around unhealthy relationships.
One area calls for analyzing state and federal laws related to minors’ ability to give and receive sexual consent and their association with sexually explicit media.
Reimer highlighted “sexually explicit media” with an arrow pointing to a hand-written note: “School books?”
DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
The same administration that would like to punish you by losing your job and business for not following their unconstitutional medical mandates now wants to teach our children all about sexuality, their version of sexuality. Of course, they may punish parents legally who attempt to teach their children about sexuality if it contradicts the state’s teaching. This woke curriculum normalizes sexual discussions in the classroom that are better taught and discussed in private by more trusted people, like parents, and perhaps at a higher grade level. This curriculum is full of crap designed to change the culture, using our children as the instruments. Perhaps courses like this can be offered as an elective, but only for parent who would like their children to learn about sexual identity, masturbation, anal, oral and vaginal sex from Phil Murphy and his progressive friends.
This is incredible – just another push from the government to move society further away from Christian values. Despite what you hear in mainstream media, the majority of the population DOES NOT buy into this. The minority is currently more vocal creating a “collective Illusion”. Stand up for what YOU believe. Don’t buy into something just because you think others do. Hate has no place in how we treat others just as these teachings have no place where young, impressionable, curious and often confused minds are present. More people need to speak up as Jay Reimer did. While those pushing this agenda would have you think that taking an opposing position is synonymous with hate, it’s just the opposite. I know where I stand, I love my children (all children) and these topics should be left for parents teach their children and help them navigate. If a parent needs help, they should be strong enough and aware enough to seek out the necessary resources. It should not be considered in the purview of our government or schools to circumvent parents and allow the vocal minority to destroy young minds/lives with a one agenda fits all mandate. Make resources available and assist parents and children when/where needed – meet them where they are, don’t force them all down a path that could very well create more problems than it solves. This is wrong for our children and this agenda plants bad seeds for the future of our society. My wife and I made a decision to send our children to Catholic School and I have never felt better about that decision then I do now! Make a decision to get involved – SPEASK UP!! I fear for the youth that will be force fed this agenda and the parents that know it is wrong but wont speak up.