New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has admitted that the school materials provided to children in his state are not "age appropriate" after widespread public outcry was sparked by gender identity lesson plans that were uncovered by parents of first and second graders.
The Democratic governor insisted however, that the lesson plans in question were just a "handful" among many others implemented in the state and that they "do not accurately reflect the spirit of the [state's] standards."
According to The Blaze, the issue began in February, when parents of students in Westfield, New Jersey, raised concerns over materials at a school board meeting that featured the state's new gender identity standards for second graders. The materials for grade schoolers included "performance expectations," for example, "the range of ways people express their gender and how gender role stereotypes may limit behavior."
One lesson plan in question was for parents of first grade students, who were asked to be able to define "gender, gender identity and gender role stereotypes" and name "at least two things they've been taught about gender role stereotypes and how those things may limit people of all genders."
The lesson plan also blatantly instructed students that they may "feel like you're a boy even if you have body parts that some people might tell you are 'girl' parts. You might feel like you're a girl even if you have body parts that some people might tell you are 'boy' parts."
Another controversial lesson plan for second graders instructed teachers to tell seven and eight year old students that there are some body parts that "mostly just girls have and some parts that mostly just boys have." The lesson plan also said that being a boy or girl did not mean that they must have those body parts. It added that while most female had female body parts such as vulva or vagina and males had a penis, "some people's [bodies] can be different."
According to Fox News, a Westfield, New Jersey district spokesperson said that they did not intend to use the lesson plans in question but instead referred to it as a "sample list of resources" for when school districts have to revise their health and PE curriculum.
Gov. Murphy at first dismissed the public outcry, but on Wednesday, his office issued a statement admitting that they had "seen a handful of sample lesson plans being circulated that have not been adopted in our school districts and do not accurately reflect the spirit of the standards." They also directed local officials to revise "any proposed educational content that is not age-appropriate."
New Jersey's Sen. Mike Doherty decried the materials given to school children, alleging that left-wing groups have used children's classrooms as a "battleground they need to conquer to control the thinking of the next generation," Insider NJ reported. The Republican senator also denounced left-wingers for being emboldened "to hijack and rewrite curriculum standards for children at younger and younger ages in an attempt to normalize their extreme views on gender identity and sexual orientation."
