The first wave of baby boomers entered their teen years during the early 1960s, an event that sent shockwaves through Canadian society.
Because there were so many of them -- 2 million baby boomers were born between 1945 and 1948 alone -- they were able to challenge the values the older generation held dear, be it marriage, church attendance, or even respect for their elders.
Their unconventional dress -- blue jeans, thigh-high skirts, and tie-dyed t-shirts in psychedelic colours quickly became the norm, and their outlandish views on sex and drugs and rock 'n roll caused parents no end of grief. Hendrix, Dylan and others became the pop-culture icons of the time. When young men began letting their hair grow long, it proved too much. Some school authorities even threatened male students with expulsion -- until teachers too began sporting longer hair.
It was their behaviour both in and out of the bedroom that seemed to disturb their elders the most. Over the course of the 1960s, premarital virginity went from being the cornerstone of mainstream morality to an apparently quaint tradition. Since the post-Pill world allowed teenagers to "Make Love, Not Babies," some said there was no longer any reason to postpone sex until after the wedding day. The generation gap was growing larger by the day.
The new universities soon became the focal points for youth unrest. Canadian students -- like their counterparts south of the border -- protested against the war in Vietnam, racism, sexism and what they believed to be old-fashioned rules that still governed personal behaviour. Popular slogans of the day included "Make Love, Not War," "Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out" and "The personal is political."
