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Our charming host was Sid Loftus, Curator of the Crown Jewels, who met us at the front gates, acknowledged us to the sentry and escorted us through the dark, eerie portcullis and into the tower itself. We waited under a flickering gas lantern for the clock to reach six minutes to ten, at which time the Key ceremony would begin. Our bodies east weird shadows on the outer walls of the Bloody Tower and I thought of Ann Boleyn and the little Princes who were brutally murdered within its walls. (Rosemary Brew, our roaming columnist, is home now but during her stay in the British Isles she had the privilege to witness the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London). "Now!" said Mr. Loftus. At the gate, some fifty yards away, I could barely make out the shapes of a Beefeater, carrying a solitary lantern ac- companied by four armed sentries. They entered the The dizzying kaleidoscope of sights and sounds that is London was miles away as I stood at the guarded gates of the Tower of London. It was late at night and deserted except for my husband and I and a lone red-coated sentry who slowly paced his cen- turies old path. In my pocket was a rare invitation to witness the Keys, a 750 year old ceremony held every night to return the keys of the Tower to the safekeeping of Her Malesties' house until morning. _ But conventional wisdom has been losing ground to the realities. One reality is the shocking total of more than 6,000 _babies born out of wedlock to girls under fifteen last year. Lack of in- formation about how one get pregnan? looms as large as lack of in ormation about birth control as an ex- planation of these tragedies. A Conservative Speaks "I live in a very con- servative area, and I'm very conservative myself," says W. William B. Thompson of the University of California at Irvine by way of ex- planation. Dr. Thompson is an obstetrician-gynecologist who has worked in a Crit- tenden Home for unmarried mothers. What he is ex- SEX IN THE SCHOOL: PROGRESS 'OR PERIL? Conventional wisdom, ever conservative, says that giving a girl birth control advice is like offering her a license to go out and become sexually promiscuous. by Eve Thom" Behind some of the doubts and qualms about sex education is the question: "Should we teach children about birth eontrol?" A Traveller 's Tales WESION TRAVEl SERVICE 191 2 Weston Rd. - (In The Westllw Bldg) GOING OVERSEAS? BOOK NOW \ AND AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT Phone 244-5324 The black iron keys were passed to the hands of the Queen's representative and so carefully timed was the entire ceremony that the moment the Yeoman Warder raised his hat to the full extent of his arm and cried, "God Save Elizabeth the Queen and all who serve under her", the clock began to chime ten. "Pass. All's well." We followed the Guards through the gate beside the Bloody Tower into a central courtyard and stopped at the foot of a wide flight of stairs leading to the green where stood the execution block. I wondered how many spirits provided a nightly audience for this pageantry. The five men turned and began walking towards where we stood. Their heavy boots clipped an echoeing cadence on the cobblestones arid occasionally, as they passed beneath a lamp, their gold and brass flickered in the dim light. portcullis and I watched the distant lights of the city slowly disappear as the massive gates clanged shut and were locked. "Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth's Keys", was the reply. The sentry dropped his rifle, retreated then saluted. "In order to get con- traceptive advice a girl had to get pregnant," he says. "I had to revise my thinking. I saw four 12-year-old girls who were pregnant and didn't know why they were pregnant." Across the country in New York City, Dr. Vaughan Mason runs an inner city project for teenage mothers. "We treated 600 unwed teenage mothers," says Dr. Mason. "Almost all of these girls knew little or nothing about the reproductive process or had had any sex education. And this seems to be more or less universal." Cost of Ignorance Dr. Vaughan Mason's young patients wanted sex education. “These teenagers," he says, "were adamant in their demand for education in the use of contraceptive devices. Their motivation was great. Most accepted the pill en- thusiastically. Those who were _ less motivated advanced one step. "The keys" replied the Yeoman holding them up for all to see. "Who's keys?" the sentry . "Halt!" charged the sentry, his rifle at the ready, "Who goes?" plaining is his change of heart about birth control and teemagers. Will sex education promote promiscuify? required the IUD." . In another part of New York City, Bellevue Hospital's Dr. Judith Belsky reports: "Most of our girls are misinformed or unin- formed about sex, reproduction and con- traception. Some girls who get pregnant are not fully aware of how one becomes pregnant. Even those who are otherwise sophisticated and intellectually gifted have surprising gaps in their knowledge of sex." If I ever want to write my memoirs, Mr. Loftus gave me a finishing touch. After all, not many girls have been kissed goodnight by the Curator of the Crown Jewels! The fear that teaching adolescents about birth control will encourage them to be promiscuous is dismissed by most doctors who deal with them. Dr. Elizabeth Connell of Metropolitan Hospital is perhaps typical. "No girl who was a virgin ever came into my clinic," says Dr. Connell. In Dr. Connell's view, if there is one thing a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl doesn't need it's an out of wedlock pregnancy. The few other spectators left then but we continued with our host to one of the most exclusive clubs in the world, the Yeoman Warders Club. We shared a few pints and were regaled with stories of strange hap- penings and unusual ex- periences within the for- tress' walls. The side gate of the Tower is locked at midnight and opened for no man and as I wasn't keen on spending the night, left shortly before the Witching hour. Mr. Loftus accompanied us again through the historical paths and bade us a warm good- night before we stepped out into a more real world. I thought that was the end of the ceremony until the sharp, sweet notes of a bugle drew my eyes to the very top of the staircase. The bugler played taps and except for the perfect, beautiful notes that seemed suspended in the quiet darkness, there was not one sound. The last notes died away and no one moved, almost as though, like me, they wanted the moment to last forever. R " 1tdheh,tl,iivliiroN mmucfous - wmm ammo count; GtAthJAm or mum & rumc swarm Lea/w H?ptoe- GOVEINMENT CERTIFIED (Fourth in a series) 23 3-6868 as cum I alumni: to: woman msuuncs DISCOUNTS . 'au by Beat 60: (cu A A I ”WIN "ttttttL . . . Knowledge of con- traceptives, especially the pill, and birth control was listed as an important unmet youth need in a 1966 Youth Health Conference in Detroit. We can help to close the generation gap by giving students the truth about contraception without cant or hypocrisy." The idea that "the pill" encourages prorniscuity is viewed as an attack on American women by the executive director of the Information Centre on Population Problems. Lewis C. Frank Jr. points out that the traditional male birth control devices have been sold over-the-counter for decades without being ac- cused of destroying the nation's morals. "The pills", he says, "are at least in the hands of the physician, who must prescribe them. Contraceptives are neutral. They don't set moral stan- dards. The fact that the pills are virtually one hundred percent effective doesn't make them any less neutral than older methods." "There is no hard evidence to support the widespread assumption that providing contraceptive information to adolescents will lead to immorality and promiscuity Changed Opinion Like Dr. Thompson, H. S. Hoyman, Head of the Department of Health and Safety Education at the University of Illinois, changed his mind about this. "I have opposed the teaching of specific methods of birth control in our high schools for 30 years," says Dr. Hoyman. "I now believe that, whether we like it or not, we will have to face up to teaching of specific methods of birth control in our high schools for 30 years," says Dr. Hoyman. "I now believe that, whether we like it or not, we will have to face up to teaching about con- traception in our secondary schools." What about the schools? Should classroom sex education include detailed information about birth control? Although Dr. Hoyman favors limiting teaching about contraception to the secondary schools, he does not feel that the subject should be ignored entirely in the elementary grades. He believes that it should be integrated into a well.. planned sex education FREE HOME PICK-0' “IVIC! YOUR CHOICE or CAI AUTOMATIC OI MANUAL EASY WAY it represents. "If the com. munity really doesn't want to have birth control discussed," says Dr. Mary Calderone of SIECUS, "it won't be." Dr. Calderone feels that even those schools that do take up the question should discuss contraception in general terms. She believes detailed advice about how to avoid pregnancy is a medical matter rather than a school matter. kindergarten and continues through grade 12. "For example," says Dr. Hoyman, "children in the fifth and sixth grades ask about the pill. A simple explanation can be given if they have learned about ovulation and fertilization." Community Control The decision about exactly what is taught in a sex education program is of course up to the local community and the parents But there are some health benefits accruing from a course of study that informs young pople about con- traception. For one thing, it can keep them from being victimized by those who tout this or that dubious non- medical birth control method from carbonated beverages to plastic wraps. program that starts in In the end, the argument for sex education including contraception. rests on the (between Royal York Road & Scarlett Rd.) FAST CAR WASH FRLOCTOBER 17 - Bingo 7:30 P.M. SAT. OCTOBER 18 - BAZAAR 2-7 P.M. WEST END CAR WASH ST. DEMETRIUS CHURCH HALL The Ukranian Catholic Religion and Culturo Socicty "itnbittttU) sth, With 15 Gallon: 751: With 12 Gallon: 25c With " Gallons Bazaar-Bingo 1865 WESTON ID. IS-uoh of Lawn-new iiGiliii' Thurs. & Fri. to 9 9.11» With on the wash costs on Mon thru Thurs 135 LaRose Avenue Jgi, I Car 1 surrounding today's growing youngsters-realities that include pregnant schoolmates and their abortions, public discussiom about the sex revolution, and references in the press and magazines to such problems as the population explosion. In this context, say educators, it is dangerously naive to think that the school should be the only place where these matters are not dealt with. realities of the lite INTRODUCING NEW NO ROD, NO WAVE, BODIFYER $8.00 SPECIAL COLD WAVE $6.00 THIS OFFER EXPIRES OCT. 15, 1969 I Exterior as only. Nogas Interior 50e hm Hair Styles 1812 JANE ST. 241-8181 [mm $1.00 With 9 Gallon: $1.25 With 6 Gallons $1.50 With 3 Gallon: