Rockridge High School
Taylor Ridge, Illinois
Rites Of Passage
By Michelle Hudson
Grade 12
When did times change so much that teens and adults no longer have even the slightest understanding of each other? Years
ago teenagers would look to their parents for the hard to find answers to life’s many questions. Nowadays, though, teens
often feel that adults do not realize the kinds of issues that they are going through. If you were to ask most adolescents who
they looked to for advice, most of them would reply their peers.
While it is good that teens feel they can talk to their friends, they are not always getting the best advice possible. Instead of
talking to adults, teens in America have been trying to make themselves feel like they are adults by doing so-called "adult
activities." We see so often the horrible reports of school shootings, kids dealing drugs, and teens having children. Most
adolescents do want to have adults care about them and their actions. Now that adults know this, they need to get
communities around the country to take a step in trying to improve the lives of our adolescents. Teens today are in great need
of having a healthy program or rite of passage that aims at showing them that they are part of their community at large. We
need to show teens that becoming an adult should be taken very seriously. Communities need to utilize present programs and
devise new ones to help teens develop into worthwhile community members.
Every day we can open up the local paper and read disturbing tales of teens. The articles we read show that teens do not
have the knowledge and experience to really make something out of their lives. Today, for example, teen suicide rates are
climbing. Adolescents do not know how to make decisions that are helpful to their futures. Teens often resort to suicide as a
way to forget about their problems and fears. Many times teens who do not know how to deal with their issues will run-away
or become involved with drugs and gangs. Teens feel that if they find others who are dealing with their same problems, they
will be able to deal with anything thrown their way. Gangs are dangerous groups that strive to become a teen’s only family and
role model. The major problem with gangs is that teens do not realize that the consequences of gangs’ illegal activities. The
beliefs that are preached in gangs are not always the responsible and right ones. Along with gangs teens often drop-out of
school and get involved in risky practices, including drugs and stealing. Teens need to acknowledge the fact that their
dangerous and precarious behaviors are only worsening their present situations.
What is being done to improve the lives of America’s teenagers? Many communities around the country have already had
some success with their programs. These communities are attempting to improve teens’ lives by giving them an activity or rite
of passage that allows them to truly understand the importance of becoming an adult. Some of these activities include
volunteering at local hospitals and community centers and visiting with senior citizens. Teens who participate in these sort of
programs learn how essential they are to their whole community. These activities allow adolescents to experience an event that
demonstrates the bridge they are crossing, the bridge into their adulthood.
There are also many other activities that act as rites of passage for today’s teens that are having success. I am involved with
my school’s National Honor Society, which does an excellent job of showing teens the right roads to take into their
adulthood. In NHS, we are always doing some sort of project to assist our local community. For example, we gather the trash
along the highway in front of our school, we prepare sandwiches for the homeless, and we also run blood drives. Without
these projects our community would be in great need; the National Honor Society fulfills the needs that the community has.
The NHS is run by students, and by having teens set up and run these activities, it has become an excellent example of a rite
of passage. Another important organization that serves as a rite of passage is my church youth group. The youth group has
collected canned foods and blankets for the needy, we have fed the homeless, and we also have helped to renovate churches
and homes of people who are in need of assistance. Through these activities the teens in my youth group have been able to
recognize how important their actions are to others around them. They also appreciate the fact that positive actions can help
turn teens into significant members of their community.
Although there are some successful activities that assist in making better the lives of adolescents, there are still numerous
problems facing teens. There are programs that I feel could also aid in diminishing some of today’s problems, including
mentoring a younger adolescent, designing and carrying out our own community improvement plan, and traveling outside of
the local area to learn about other people. Although some of these programs are already in place, I feel that we could utilize
them a lot more. Teens could be matched up with a young adolescent to talk about issues that concern them, and the teens
could help to pave a way for their young friend . They could discuss problems concerning friends, school, parents, etc. Teens
would have the opportunity to have someone see them as an important, knowledgeable person who really counts. By
designing a community improvement project teens would have to research and plan an idea of their own. This kind of project
is similar to the program the Eagle Scouts participate in. For example, my neighbor, who is an Eagle Scout repainted and
repaired the entrance to our addition. He came up with a project that could benefit others, and he carried his plan out. Other
projects similar to this would be excellent ways for teens to take part in improving their communities. Lastly, by traveling
outside of their local areas teens would be able to learn about other people’s beliefs and needs. The adolescents would be
helping to improve the lives of the other people and at the same time be learning some great life lessons.
Adults may think that teens do not care about their communities and their actions, but they are wrong. Teens crave a
program that will enable them to participate in their communities. Adolescents really do want to make something out of their
lives; all they need is something to give them a nudge in the right direction. This is why rites of passage programs are so
important. Areas all over the country need to start putting together programs that will allow teens to make the transition into
adulthood a good one. By having programs in place that help teens become responsible adults, many of the problems of today
will begin to diminish.
1. Margaret Mead opens her preface remembering the Army’s commercial, "Be All You Can Be in the Army." She says that things in the United States have been becoming less than they could be. The Army commercial attempted to get Americans to get involved in their welfare and lives, and it sought to get Americans to join the Army and protect the United States. Mead sees that because of our culture, it is hard for teenagers to really take on the responsibilities of running their own lives.
2. All of the issues that Mead mentioned are still present today. Mead says, "the problems of human culture have not lessened but increased in intensity." It seems that although we as a culture are more scientifically advanced, problems still continue to plague us. Some of the problems have evolved to include new dilemmas, but the problems of the past are still present today.
3. I do agree with Mead that culture is man-made. As times change, so do the acceptable behaviors of man. When people start deciding to do their own thing, more and more people follow these new paths. As a result issues and events that would have been seen as inappropriate in the 1920’s are quite acceptable in today’s culture. Take for example, divorces and single parent families. In the dictionary culture is described as "the quality in a person or society that arises from interest or a stage of civilization."
4. In Mead’s writings she was advocating greater knowledge and control over the civilizing process. She was hoping that man would be able to improve their lives by controlling the actual civilizing process. Mead knew that the answer to our culture’s problems was not to return to the past, but to try to learn from our mistakes.
5. In the speech Susan wrote, she described adolescents as having their own separate society and culture. I agree that teens today live their lives by talking to each other. Most teens look to their peers for advice and for their values, so parents and other adults do not have very important roles in their lives. Personally, I believe that adolescents do want adults to know what is going on and to enforce boundaries and structure. I believe that teens need to have adults for role models to look up to and be able to talk to about their issues. Teens realize that we do not have all of the answers, so we need adults to help give us a nudge in the right direction.
6. At my school the policies regarding "dipping" are very lenient. I can remember seeing a boy in my physical education class "spitting" in his "dipper" in between the team switches of kick ball. I also can remember when the police brought dogs to school to check our lockers and one boy in my class said he had a joint in his locker. Lastly, I can remember when some girls showed up for their semester finals "high" on pot.
7. Although I attend a very small school where there are almost no minorities, I can try to imagine this boy’s pain. My only suggestion is to try your best at keeping an optimistic view and behave in the appropriate ways. If it is possible attempt to ignore ignorant people, and remember that you know you are a good person. Hopefully, some day you will be able to look back on your bad experiences and say they have taught you something positive.
8. I do not think that I would enjoy attending a single-sex school or being home-schooled. I feel that being with a variety of people allows you to open your mind to new ideas. By hearing different beliefs you can question what you have been taught, and make up your own mind. School is all about learning how to interact with others and learning how to compromise. I do not feel these sort of compromises are possible when you only get to learn about a select group of beliefs.
9. I think that Pete Seeger has a very good point that schools do not teach you how to live. I will agree that schools do not give students all of the knowledge they will need for the future, but I would not say that schools are like prisons. Some schools offer very extensive programs that help students prepare for their future occupations. I do feel that most schools do need to improve their curriculum to include more classes that incorporate community-based learning. At my school many students are involved with our Co-op program that allows students to take classes dealing with their future careers; it also allows students to go out and work at these sort of jobs.
10. I completely agree with the message that the "Bottom line" is trying to convey. I do feel that if adults want teens to listen and care about what they have to say, our culture needs to take steps in making adolescents feel that adults do know what they are talking about and that they do have some good ideas. Adults need to remember what it was like when they were our age; then they need to imagine the generation gap being twice as big. Teens need to try to understand that adults do not have all the answers, but they are usually willing to try.