PAGE FOUR
EDITORIAL
a time of your life
And now, brought to you by the same folks who
brought you the burning of the books three years
ago— a genuine crusade against sex education in
the schools.
Enraged by the scrupulous honesty and:
meticulous accuracy of the last five segments of “A
Time of Your Life,” thirteen Back Mountain
ministers and an uncertain number of area citizens
(not all of them parents) have demanded that
Lake-Lehman school authorities cancel the film
series.
Disregarding the fact that parents have had,
from the very beginning of the series thirteen
weeks ago, the prerogative of deciding whether or
not their children may view the films, the irate
clergymen are determined to foist their own points
of view on everyone else. That their beliefs may not
be—indeed, are not—tenable to a large number of
parents who believe the school can and should take
an active part in the total education of their
children is completely ignored.
The charges leveled against the educational
program take several forms:
“They’re pornographic!” the crusaders wail,
despite the fact that the film series has won
plaudits from organizations as diverse as the
national Parent-Teacher Association and the U.S.
Department of Health.
“They’re immoral!” they cry, reasoning that
sex education cannot be taught apart from moral-
ity and that morality cannot be found outside the
scriptures. Is morality, then, an exclusively Chris-
tian privilege? Included in the program’s vocabu-
lary are the words ‘‘sharing,” “trust,” “mutual,”
responsibility,” “closeness” and ‘‘love.”” Are these
words immoral simply because they are not quoted
within a Biblical context?
“They’re communistic!’’ they shout, weaving
distortions and half-truths into a mosaic that would
condemn the Lake-Lehman school directors as
unwitting dupes of a communist plot to seduce the
minds and morals of little children.
“The children are too young!” they argue,
speaking of the 11 and 12-year old children for
whom the films are planned. Too young? When vir-
tually every television program, every movie,
every magazine and every billboard they see from
the time they are born thrusts sexual images at
them? Our children will get a sex education one
way or another; parents, clergymen and educators
might better work together to see that it is a
healthy, wholesome, positive experience rather
than an education learned from dubious sources
and in undesirable circumstances.
“Sex education is the job of parents and
church!” the ministers clamor, admitting on the
- one hand that parents often neglect this respon-
sibility and conceding on the other that their own
churches offer no sex education classes for young
people.
Three years ago another group of zealots suc-
ceeded in having Ernest Hemingway’s book, ‘To
Have and Have Not,’ removed from the shelves of
the high school library because it contained a
number of words and phrases they found offensive.
We can only hope that current efforts to vilify
Lake-Lehman’s school directors and intimidate the
parents of youngsters permitted to view the films
do not meet with a similar success.
S.M.
Tie SDALLASC20ST
A non-partisan, liberal, and progressive newspaper published every Thursday morn-
ing by Northeastern Newspapers Inc. from 41 Lehman Ave., Dallas, Pa. 18612.
Entered as second class matter at the post office at Dallas, Pa., under the Act of
March 3, 1869. Subscription within county, $5 a year. Out-of-county subscriptions,
$5.50 a year. Call 675-5211 for subscriptions.
The officers of Northeastern Newspapers Inc. are Henry H. Null 4th, president and
publisher; John L. Allen, vice president, advertising; J. R. Freeman, vice presi-
dent, news.
Editor emeritus, Mrs. T. M. B. Hicks; managing editor, Doris R. Mallin; editor of
the editorial page, Shawn Murphy; advertising manager, Annabell Selingo.
THE DALLAS POST, MAY 7, 1970
only yesterday
FORTY YEARS AGO
Warm weather was bringing out the cat-
fish, and many fisherman were reporting
better-than-usual catches.
G.Harold Wagner was making property
assessments in Dallas Township. ;
The Tunkhannock-Dallas Highway was
being re-surfaced.
Elwood Swingle represented Kingston
Township high school in Troy, when he took
part in an interscholastic field meet. Morgan
Rowlands accompanied him.
Sergeant James B. Norris, Trucksville,
was buried with full military honors Monday
afternoon as the 109th fired the salute.
The Rev. J. J. O‘Leary, pastor of St.
Therese’s, returned from an extended stay in
the South, much improved in health.
THIRTY YEARS AGO
Max Gelb’s summer home on Point
Breeze was destroyed by fire during the early
hours of the morning. Losses were estimated
at $6,500.
Making way for the new highway which
would follow the old trolley right-of-way,
workmen were removing overhead trolley
wires from Dallas to Harveys Lake. Buses
had replaced trolleys during the previous
spring.
Expenses for Dallas Borough school dis-
trict for the coming year were estimated at
$32,545, with millage at 29.
Appointment of Irvin Davis as post-
master at Shavertown was confirmed. Mr.
Davis had been acting postmaster for a
number of years. .
TWENTY YEARS AGO
The Harveys Lake Light Company
planned to spend $50,000 in this area to in-
crease service to Idetown. The new Idetown
substation, which required levelling of a large
plot between Harveys Lake and Sgarlat
Lakes, was to have four 500 KVA trans-
formers.
The scarlet fever scare proved ground-
less. One child, Dorothy Tibus, presumably
picked up an infection at the special school
she attended in Kingston. There was no
scarlet fever at Dallas Borough, Dallas
Township, Lehman or Lake schools. Shaver-
town had one case, but it was soon out of
quarantine.
Russell Uhl said the driving range near
the Castle Inn would be ready for use shortly.
Extensive grading had just been completed.
Dallas Township supervisors gave $300 to
Dr. Henry M. Laing Fire Company and $200 to
Kunkle volunteers. The Harry S. Smith Com-
pany would handle grass and brush fires with
special equipment. Dallas volunteers have
recently purchased an asbestos suit and suc-
tion apparatus for drawing water from ponds
and streams.
TEN YEARS AGO
Thirty markers—many of them weighing
as much as 2000 pounds—were overturned in
the Wardan Cemetery by an unknown number
of vandals. Located along Lake Street, the
cemetery dates back to the 1880s
A gala dinner was held at the Irem
Temple Country Club as testimonial to James
A. Martin, retiring supervising principal of
Dallas Schools. Over 200 persons gathered to
honor the school administrator who was retir-
ing after 27 years of service.
A lively Auction Kick-Off dinner was pro-
mised by James D. Hutchison, dinner chair-
man. He noted that the dinner would be
limited to 200 persons and that the length of
guest speakers’ speeches would be limited
too! ; .
Andy Roan, Back Mountain beverage dis-
tributor, had his faith restored in human
nature when he received payment for three
cases of beer stolen some months before from
one of his trucks. A letter accompanying the
payment read, “I’m sorry; it won’t happen
again.”
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RENNER
7
Pillar to Post
by Hix
It was fun making a tape for King’s
College, the tape moving silently along its ap-
pointed path, unwinding from one spool,
winding up on another, bearing some
thoughts about the changing aspect of the
Back Mountain as its herds disappear and it
takes on the complexion of a bedroom com-
munity.
What Miss Mary Barrett didn’t know was
that all the time she was interviewing me, I
was interviewing her, devoting half of my
mind to what I was putting on tape for poster-
ity, subject the Back Mountain, and the other
half to King's College librarian.
For one thing, she has two heads, some-
thing which is unique even for a librarian,
who'needs not only two heads butrabout four
pairs of hands to keep abreast of the times
and the recording thereof.
didn’t know that she had two heads until
after the luncheon in the faculty dining room,
where the first head twinkled at me through
bright and observant eyes. I felt like an insect
impaled on a pin, with my inner thoughts
being catalogued and analyzed, but deftly and
with empathy.
The second head appeared quite unex-
pectedly after we had returned to her office in
the library. It had its eyes closed and looked
entirely imperturbable. It was obviously age- .
less and priceless, nearly lifesize, its expres-
sion that of a silent Buddha waiting out the
centuries.
We discussed the head. It had been dug up
on an archeological expedition, and for some
unknown reason had been relegated to the
garage of the digger where it rested quietly
for a good many years after the return from
the land of the Inca. It emerged from the rub-
| try hard not to act natural
ble of the dig completely unharmed, and re- .
mained unharmed under its potato sack. It:
would actually be very difficult to harm it, ex-
cept perhaps with a pickaxe, as it is solid
stone. Archeologists do not attack digs with a
pickaxe but with gently strokes of a brush, a
technique which leaves the surface of an
object in its natural state. Many priceless bits
of pre-history were destroyed by ruthless ex-
cavators intent on treasure before the present
methods became standard and governments
hecame aware of their heritage.
“Would you care to make a tape for the
college library?’ Miss Barrett had inquired a
few days previously, “You could come in
ahead of time and we could have lunch to-
gether to-get acquainted. There's a faculty
parking lot next to the library. All you have to
do is to communicate over the telephone at
the barrier, and the barrier will rise.”
This sounded like apple pie. I decided to
combine an appointment at the college li-
brary with a trip to the Court House to get my
passport renewed. It would expire on July 21,
and it would be humiliating to be refused ad-
mission to the land of my birth if the plane
from Denmark should be delayed. Probably
the authorities would let me in, but there
would be a good bit of red tape to determine
| my exact status. It was difficult in the first
place to establish the fact that I was a living
and breathing human being, not an astral
body. Folks who were born before 1906 have
this recurrent problem. They are not on the
birth records, so they do not exist. In a few
more years the problem will no longer arise,
hecause all of us will have been gathered to
our reward, whatever that happens to be.
The application started on its way to Phil-
adelphia, accompanied by a check for ten dol-
lars. (The additional two and a half, in cash,
was probably for beer for the boys in the back
room.) One eye on the clock, I hotfooted it out
of Luzerne County Courthouse parking lot and
down the street to the library. The hornet
colored barrier blocked the passage. The sign
said trucks would be admitted, just telephone.
A student said no, he didn’t know which
button to press or what number to dial but he
would inquire. Which he did, bless his little
pointed head.
And just about the time I was considering
ramming the barricade, the hornet shot an
antenna into the air and the path was clear for
“the truck, which bugged through in a great
hurry for fear the barrier might change its
mind. The boy waved, said hurray for trucks,
and there I was in sancutary, on the exact dot
of eleven forty-five. My motto is, never he late
for a free meal. Some electronic cadgpright
cause it to vanish.
I haven't the remotest idea what went"
onto the tape. The only thing I kn br for
certain is that I restrained myself nobl¥ from
dropping into newspaperese, a language
which is at times somewhat earthy. But I did
save one gem until after Miss Barrett had .
shut off the recording mechanism, because by
that time I had concluded that she could take :
it without holding it against me. It was some-
thing which had endeared me to the hearts of
the International Conference of Weekly
Newspaper Editors some years ago, but
phrased in pithy terms not ordinarily found in
print, or on a tape designed for the archives of
King's College.
I keep bearing in mind my daughter’s
warning, on the occasion of the Open House
_ back in January: “For heaven's sake,
Mamma, don’t act natural,” and I make an
effort not to act natural, but it is a strain.
poet corngr.:
LADIES OF THE AFTERNOON
by Helen Villaume
Ladies of the afternoon, 4
From their household cares immune,
Coiffured, ear-ringed, necklace-pearled
Set out for their secret world :
Of bridge club, teas and fashion shows—
A secret world no husband knows.
There’s salad ready to be tossed
And TV dinners on defrost.
Dessert will be some bit of fakery
Toted home from Mother’s Bakery.
Off they go to shops or clubs
While husbands at the office drub.
off the cuff stuff . going ape at the Bronx Zoo
by Bruce Hopkins
It had been a long time since I'd been to
the zoo. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t re-
member when I'd been to the zoo last. But I do
remember one time at the Bronx Zoo when I
got lost. Very lost. And I am quite proud of the
way I handled myself at that time. I really
used my head. I discovered myself lost, de-
cided I had to do something to find my par-
ents, walked up to the first kind person I saw
and began screaming hysterically. It worked.
Sunday came a bit earlier than usual
since it was the set-your-clock-ahead-an-hour
Sunday that we had chosen as zoo day. The
exciting part was that we were three teachers
and eight students going together as people.
Heaven forbid, we actually went to the zoo as
friends!
The zoo was serene when we got there. It
was peaceful and happy, sunny and warm,
just beginning to unfold it’s balloon, cracker
jack and cotton candy plummage. It was a
nice time to be there because there were more
captive animals than captive people. And you
could just enjoy the early morning drowsiness
of an orangutang without fifty people shoving
guest editorial:
‘(Interfaith Stateemnt on Sex Education by
the National Council of Churches; Synagogue
Council of America; United States Catholic
Conference. June 8, 1968)
Human sexuality is a gift of God, to be ac-
cepted with thanksgiving and used with
reverence and joy . . . Sex is a dynamic urge
or power, arising from one’s basic maleness
you, stepping on your feet, and mucking up
your hair with cotton candy.
We took our time wandering from exhibit
to exhibit, reading the evolutionary history of
cach animal, learning so many interesting
things, and remarking on how well-cared-for
the animals were. We smiled at the poignancy
of the sign reading, ‘‘The Philadelphia Zoo
takes better care of it’s animals than some
parents do of their children.”
The rare mammals were perhaps the
most fascinating group, probably because we
felt as though we knew so many of them per-
sonally. The fat pompous baboon, sitting defi-
antly in his cage, arms folded over his chest,
daring anyone to challenge his judgement and
knowledge would make an awfully good ad-
ministrator.
Each of us picked animals that we
thought most resembled us, and then we
picked them for each other. And we laughed
hecause it was silly and fun and not far from
_ the truth.
The sun filtered flippantly through the
trees as we strolled through the awakening
gardens inhabitated with peacocks and fla-
mingos and swans and other friends of
princesses. One peacock nobly opened his |
multi-colored tail and modeled for us, turning
this way and that. Another cautiously pecked
peanuts from our open palms.
The camels remained aloof to our smiles,
cither ignoring us or looking down their noses
at us as if we were not of their class. And
perhap we're not.
By the time we reached the bear pit, our
stomachs growled messages to the bears, who*
responded with snorts and grunts. The majes-
ty and strength of the bears was awesome. I'd
hate to meet one in a dark alley.
As we sat peacefully munching our no-
where-else-do-they-taste-like-this hot dogs,
we noticed that the grounds were getting a bit
crowded. We skeptically observed these new
mammals arriving on the scene in their ela-
borate and varied plumes. The zoo became
less enjoyable as the crowd increased. So
many had come not to learn and appreciate,
but rather to gawk and torment and aggra-
vate. To prove their power over the animals.
They throw things at the caged lion to make
him roar for them. What power!
Probably the most disturbing moment
came when we were enjoying the peace and
serenity of three hippopotami. The father,
mother, and baby hippos were huddled
human sexuality is a gift of God
or femaleness, and having complex physical,
psychological and social dimensions . . .
Responsibility for sex education belongs
primarily to the child’s parents or guardians.
A home permeated by justice and love is the
seedbed of sound sexual development among"
family members. . . Healthy attitudes toward
sex begin in the child’s earliest years; they
can best develop in an atmosphere that fos-
ters in him a deep sense of his own self-worth,
bolstered by love and understanding. . .
We recognize that some parents desire
supplementary assistance from church or
synagogue and from other agencies. Each
community of faith should provide resources,
‘leadership and opportunities as appropraite
for its young people to learn about their
: warmly together; the baby with its KX) rest- |
. ing on it’s father’s massive chin. They slept
with only their enormous noses above the
* water, their bulging eyes closed to the group
of gathered gawkers. It was a really touching
‘scene. But the camera bugs wantecigiction.
They were insulted that they had traveted so
far to see these animals, and the animals had
- the gall to sleep. So they started throwing
peanuts to awaken them. One mother human-
ely commanded her daughter to ‘‘Aim for his
eyeballs, that ought to wake him.” Feeling
particularly friendly to animals, our little
group took action. We reached into our bags
of peanuts and began throwing a barrage at
* the people throwing a barrage at the hippos.
It was an extremely satisfying feeling as they
looked at us with their shocked expressions.
. We felt particularly warm when the papa hip-
po opened his eyes, looked at us, winked, and
went back to sleep.
We left with hydrogen filled valley tied
ggard
looking that it appeared almost as if the bal-
to our wrists. Some of us were so h
loons were holding us up. And in my case, I
think it was true. But it had been a warm day
and we were quiet and happy and friends. And
we drove away to another kind of zoo.
development into manhood and womanhood,
and for adults to grow in understanding of
their roles as men and women in family and
society in the light of their religious heritage.
In addition to parents and the religious
community, the school and other community
agencies can have a vital role in sex educa-
tion . . . —
Clas
ind
or
Fiv
Mo!
nan
Dec
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