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And they call it: ‘teaching geographj

“What did you learn in school _

today, dear little boy of mine?”
Goes the song. |

If the boy is a Grade 7 stu-
dent in the Catholic schools of
Quebec, a “reputable” American
publisher supplies him-with his
‘geography text called for some
reason “Neighbors in Eurasia.”

Here is a sample of the pic-
ture of the world a Grade 7 stu-
dent gets. “Christians live in
peace, freely and without fear.
We have truth, happiness and
everlasting life.

“Satan has built an evil imi-
tation of the Church called com-
munism. Its members are called
Communists . Human’ life
means nothing to Communists.
They will- starve millions to
death for power.”

“It (Neighbors in Eurasia)

can’t be considered a geography
text by any stretch of the imag-
ination,” says John T..McLhone,
director of English schools for
the Montreal Catholic Schools
‘Commission.
. In an article in the Montreal
Gazette, McLhone said that:
“The book warps everything
‘into what is supposed to be.a
Catholic viewpoint, misinter-
_prets facts and history, gives a
ridiculous view of political facts
like Communism.”

The book is an example of
what a recent commission in-

By KATE BADER
WHITE ROCK, B.C.
ANY women want much
more than the “biological
beat of bed, board and
babies”, as it was so scathingly
described recently by the presi-
dent of the Canadian Federa-
tion of University Women, Mrs.
Laura Sabia. Mrs. Sabia is a
member of the St. Catharines,
Ontario, city council and chair-
man of the~ Commission of
Equality for Women. It was she
-who was perhaps most instru-
mental in getting the govern-
ment to appoint a Royal Com-
mission on the Status of Women
in Canada.

Mrs. Sabia blamed women’s
magazines, advertising and other
mass media, as well as “guid-
ance” counselling, for giving
women an image of themselves
forever in the traditional role
of wife, mother and homemaker.
She draw attention to the fact
that in the professions in Canada
only. three percent of those -in
law are women, 10 percent in
medicine, and 1 percent in den-
tistry; and while there are 12,000
male university teachers and
2,000 women, only 8 percent of
the latter are full professors.

Somewhat similar opinions on
a broader scale were expressed
last October at a seminar held
in Rome on the problem of the
participation of women in public
life, which was attended by
women from many countries, ca-
pitalist and socialist. Writing on
the seminar in Women Speaking,
‘Mrs. Graziella Davoli Morselli
of Italy, a university womn,

vestigating education in Que-
bec meant wher it referred to
the “tastelessness” and “‘exces-
sive use of religious material”
in elementary textbooks. The
report of the commission noted
that as a result of the use of
such books “many minds re-
main scarred by bad taste, by
banality of expression, by emp-
ty religiosity, by dessicated or
inadequate knowledge.”

It is not only Communists
that get whacked by the text-
book. Some editions of the book
suggest that the poor in India
will never better their lot until
they become Christians, the
Protestants who emigrated from
England were “like good people
who, without knowing it, pass
around counterfeit money.” The
book also relates that the lands
of northern Africa have become
blighted because so many of the
people converted to Moham-
medanism hundreds of years
ago.

Quebec children are doomed
to study this book for at least
two more years. McLhone says
he is powerless to remove it
from the curriculum. According
to him, authority to replace the
book must come from the prov-
incial minister of education.

One scary aspect of the whole
thing is that the minister of edu-
cation himself was. probably
brought up with such textbooks.

~ POINT OF VIEW

What do women really want?

high school teacher and mother
of four young children, makes
some far-reaching and rather
startling statements.

In her opinion “discussion of
women’s rights is out of date.”
What is required now is an
examination of how those rights
are not being exercised. Her sur-
prising claim. is that, despite
divergent views reflecting dif-
ferent social conditions in dif-

ferent countries, “‘all participants

in the seminar agreed there is a
stagnation in the progress of
women’s emancipation in all
fields and in all countries.”

In brief, Mrs. Morselli ascribes

people, called Christians, to work till the end of time to win souls for Him. Chri
in peace, freely and without fear.We have truth, happiness, and everlasting life-

Satan has built an evil imitation of the Church called communism. Its met
are called Communists. Many were once good people who were confused in thell i
ing. Soon they learned to do evil to spread communism. Human life means nothing

Communists. They will starve millions to death for power.

HOW COMMUNISTS TAKE OVER A COUNTRY
Jesus Christ set up His earthly kingdom in a world-wide Church. He wants if

stians

ih
(Neighbors In EUM

womens difficulties in achieving
sci gration to two general
factors: “&conomic and political
changes in the last hundred
years have been more rapid than
change in social habits and men-
tality, and that the changes have
not always benefited women.”

She views women in socialist.

countries as having become only
“a working force and an indis-
criminate political mass without
finding a real answer to their
problems as individuals.” Furth-
er, industrial developments in
the western countries have
changed women into “mere
tools’ and what has resulted is
“not their liberation but rather
their condition .of servitude,
their ancient subjection reform-
ulated in modern terms and
made more acceptable since dis-
guised under the cloak of a
false freedom.”

The conclusion reached by
Mrs. Morselli is that “if women
want to control their own des-
tinies they must feel the strong
necessity to participate in the
light of today’s public -con-
science, in the search for a new
and more human world. Their
associations must put women’s
intellectual talents to the acqui-
sition of a higher conscience,
not rest content with so many
graduations and diplomas,
whose increasing number is
proudly quoted without question
as to their use for the benefit of
society. Women must be encour-
aged and drawn out of inactivity
so that their individual qualities
may be put in evidence...”

While one can agree to a

limited degree with the opinions
of the two women quoted, it
should be kept in mind that they
were each dealing mainly with
one specific strata of women.
There is, of course, a much
wider field to be examined. In
Canada this must embrace not
only equal opportunity for en-
trances and advancement in the

professions, but such questions

as a broader scope of vocational
training for girls and women;
better protective and equitable
legal rights; reformed divorce
laws; an upward revision of pen-
sions (widows’, old age, etc.);
equal pay for equal work; gov-
ernment measures to provide
care for children of working
mothers.

These are all questions that
also merit the support of men’s
organizations — trade unions,
law associations, and others. It
is felt by some that even where
men may know better, they
have done little so far to help
change the basic relationship of
women to society. The idea that
man is the “protector” and
woman the “protected” is still
prevalent among both men and
women. Paradoxically, because
husbands and wives both have
jobs and go to the supermarket
together every Friday night
there is a superficial impression
of equality.

Some (men) even: complain
that women are usurping man’s
role as the “superior” sex. For
instance: an American TV pro-
gram recently astonished: some
of its viewers with two men
seriously discussing how to

-and woman the 4

of
“stem the tide of er |
chial society in our 0° é
day.” They said: “Jt. iv
to build up the role ogi
in the family and | ont

“ity sahey, claimed of i

ees’ emotional PIO" ig
due to misunderst@” i"
the role of fathet CY
caused family brea® (f
disturbances; and © | aiff

porary father must “rite

he’s no longer head 0” i
One of the speaker iy

‘that “the woma? the

jeans and curlers Yop
market cannot be Ke

It was hard to ta ot
cussion too serious’? ing
it could be viewed "5 f
subtle (Vietnam) “i
logy, depicting moe

er: vl

On the other haMyyl
have been prompte™ gs
troduction into the sf
lature recently © ting M4
women “equal sh0O of
The existing la sll
Texan to kill his ¥!
not vice versa. k

* x vF

A clear definitio® “i -
relation to socle? iol:
level of rights 4” def 0"
should now be U7. 4 #
ation in all canadle fl
organizations in PE oily
submissions tO | +) pe
mission. They rs
as well as general, ‘ att
with women’s ne&® far |
tions and reachiné ies
the narrow poundat
estic life.

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Morch 23, 1967—PACIFIC TRIBUN