User Auth with Private Function

[eluser]johnmchilton[/eluser]
My login function sets a session userdata variable called "logged_in". At the beginning of each other function, the value of that is checked. This was a terrible solution, because it meant that all of the function's code had to be in an else {} block:

Code:

function index() {
  if(!$this->session->userdata('logged_in') {
    $this->load->view('login');
  } else {
    //what this function is meant to do, ending with...
    $this->load->view('main');
  }
}

So I decided to move that to a private function, which I'm calling _init(). Here is the basic structure of how I want it to work:

Code:

function _init($check=true) {
  $data["header"] = "Welcome ...";
  $data["title"] = "Site Title ...";

  if($check) {
    if(!$this->session->userdata('logged_in')) {
      $this->load->view('login');
    }
  }
}


function index() {
  $this->_init();

  $this->load->view('main');
}

However, loading the login view doesn't stop execution. I don't know how to get the login part to stop the rest of its caller...does anyone know what I'm trying to say or how to help? Thanks!