New Jersey’s latest Comprehensive Health and Physical Education learning standards, which include Social and Sexual Health Education guidelines, are set to take effect in September 2022. As a result, many parents are taking another look at when and how much they want their children to learn about sex. However, while parents are contemplating what they believe is appropriate for children to learn in schools, they may be overlooking what their children are learning right under their noses on the internet, and how it could be affecting their mental health. This is particularly true for children of dual households following divorce, who often have access to cell phones or tablets at an impressionable age.

In New Jersey, co-parents often share joint legal custody. That is to say, co-parents will share the legal authority and responsibility for making “major” decisions regarding the child’s welfare, while more “minor” day-to-day decisions remain with the parent exercising parenting time. In custody agreements, co-parents often specifically acknowledge and agree that they will confer on all matters relating to the health, welfare, religious training, and education of the child. However, it may be time for co-parents to consider access to technology and the internet as a major decision impacting their child’s social and sexual health education as well as their mental health.