Concordia High School
Rites Of Passage
By
Angela Sharp
Grade 12
Centuries
ago the “rite of passage” was used by young Indian boys going out into the wild
on a hunting and vision quest for several days to prove they were mature enough to handle
the responsibilities of the tribe, show their independence and prove that they can provide
for themselves and others. It was a change in status to prove to the chiefs they were
worthy. After this they usually received their tribal warrior Indian name. With the coming of the 21st century,
teenagers need to be viewed as contributing members of our society. One main goal for
teenagers today is to obtain a drivers license at the age of sixteen. Before citizens can
obtain a drivers license they should have to perform twenty hours of community service
within six months of getting the license.
Doing service to our community as a
“rite of passage” is no different now than what it was years ago. Teenagers are
proving to themselves and others that they can take on added responsibility, and can
handle themselves in a mature manner in situations with their superiors, show that
teenagers are contributing members of society, and that teens are “adult” enough
to handle life. It helps build
self-confidence, teach values and behaviors that would help show teens are contributing to
the community, building citizenship and shows that young people can give back to others.
Being a responsible citizen could help
build a better society in visualizing ways in which all people can be helped, and in ways
teenagers can help the less fortunate. Economically, the extra community service hours
could lead to future jobs or careers because the added responsibility of driving comes the
responsibility of paying for the vehicle. This
includes paying for gas, insurance, and upkeep work on the vehicle. Teens must show to themselves and their parents
that they can handle these added responsibilities. When driving, teenagers must remain
consistent with the laws concerning driving. Young drivers must be taught about insurance
regulations, observing the speed limits, knowing how to file accident reports, and all
other important information that goes along with driving any type of vehicle. This can be
done if teenagers know what goes on in the legisture and the political aspect that it
contains.
Community service can be performed in a
number of ways. Helping out with Boy Scout or
Girl Scout troops shows the ability to get along with others. Their are many things that
we have learned throughout school like science experiment, or maybe you enjoy camping that
you can teach or show to others. Volunteering at a nursing home where you can organize,
and do activities, shows enough responsibility to care about others, and can handle being
around elderly people and superiors, co-workers, and administration. Helping the elderly do things that they are unable
to do for themselves, like yard work, painting, and helping them build a porch, provides a
way to illustrate the fact that teenagers can be contributing members of society. Also, working with elderly people, teenagers are
able to learn the hardships of life and death. When
a teenager shows that he or she can handle a death of a person they have became close to
without going into a major state of depression, adults get a higher view of the
responsibility that a teenager is able to handle. Helping
out with after school programs, recycling, helping with Meals on Wheels and visiting
hospitals. There are many other organizations and clubs that are always needing
volunteers. One of the largest is the American Red Cross helping during fundraisers or
when disaster strikes.
Driving a vehicle is not just a
privilege that we can expect to have. Now you have to have proven you have driven with
someone for 40 hours before obtaining a license. Why not do the same with proving you have
done community service and driving for 40 hours? We
should be able to obtain a form from the Drivers License Bureau and have people sign as we
do projects to return when we take the driving test.
Atlanta has required 75 hours of community service to graduate from high school for
more than a decade. More states like Maryland are following suite. If school systems think
that it is important for students to community service then the state government should
also feel the same way.
A “Rite of passage” is to
show others that teens are responsible, show our independence, and are ready to take on
the “adult” world, this can be done by community service, after all teens are
the warriors of tomorrow. In today’s
society it is no different than if we are Indian warriors except instead of obtaining a
name we are obtaining a driving license. Our
chiefs could name us “cruisers of the night”.
Answers To Questions Regarding The Required Reading
Q1) What
does Margaret Mead say at the start of her 1961 Preface to Coming Of Age In Samoa that is
reminiscent of a current Army recruiting commercial?
Samoa was
more of a primitive society; family life was simple and closer. The civilized society is
more in depth with hatred self-critical and what others expect. To me she meant “All that you can be”
that this society where people would be, more helpful, loving, and to respect each other.
Q2) Which
of the following issues of the 1920s are no longer issues today?
1. The importance of the language spoken
in the home
2. Familial pressures on children
3. Misconceptions about race and color
4. The effects of artificially
separating children from a knowledge of birth, love and death
I think that the effects of artificially separating children from a knowledge of birth, love and dearth because, we let mother’s have a choice of home and hospital births, more open adoptions. Now if you were adopted there are ways to find your parents. Single women now keep there baby and are not taken away at birth, as well as the women are not hidden either. Now you learn at an early age about death due to diseases and accidents. In the 1920s mainly the only people that died were elders and were short term. Now deaths are long term and of any age.
Q3) Do you agree with Margaret
Mead said that “culture is man-made and that man is free to design it closer to the
desires of his own heart?” What
definition of “culture” do you find in your dictionary?
Yes, the man is the one that decides change and how it’s going to change, not the environment or other surroundings. Culture is what is taught and has a little bit of change from your surroundings of the environment.
Q4) In her writings Margaret Mead
was advocating:
1. a
return to primitive ways
2. greater
knowledge and control over the civilizing process
3. an
integration of the primitive and civilized
4. none
of the above
She wanted to go back to the simple way of life, and the friendliness and unquestioning way of life.
Q5) Comment on Susan’s speech
(page 60 A Tribe Apart) Do you and your peers really want adults to recognize what
is going on and to enforce “boundaries and structure”?
I feel that adults and parents should
know what their teenagers are actually doing in the evenings and on the weekends. Even though most teens just say they are going out
what does that mean? Does it mean, parties
with alcoholic beverages, cruising with friends and gossiping, going to a friends house? There are so many ideas of going out. That parents should know and ask more questions. Before they get a phone call or knock on their
door, by a police officer giving them bad news.
Q6) Write
three things that you “absolutely, positively know, saw or experienced concerning
drugs and alcohol among” students at your school.
I see people underage and of age students using; snuff (chewing tobacco), smoking
cigarettes and drinking alcoholic beverages.
Q7) Do
you have a solution for the “phlight of the teenager”? (page 88 A Tribe Apart)
Everyone needs to walk a mile in each other’s shoes. Give everyone a chance not all blacks cause trouble as well as not all whites are goody goods.
Q8) Would
it be a relief if all you had to do was “go to classes and learn”? Would you be happy if you were home-schooled or
attended a single-sex private school where academics were presented in an exciting way and
learning was admired even by peers?
If all we had to do was go to school and learn that would be great. I do not think we would have as many dropouts as
we do now. I do not think I would be
happy if I was home-schooled because I cannot stay in one place for a long time. I have to be around people, the activities that
you can be apart of makes you a well rounded person if you are home-schooled you would not
have that chance. A single sexed, private
school would be cool. Because, many people do
not speak up because of the other gender they thing they will get mad fun of by the
comment that they say.
Q9) Comment on the line from Pete Seeger. “Schools are like prisons because they don’t teach you how to live.” And Jonathan’s comment “People in school are dulled by the remoteness to the real world.” Would more classes incorporating community-based learning be helpful? (incorporating activities with relevance to actual life situations)
I think that
we should put what we learn into the real world. I
feel this because; students need to know that what they are learning relates to the real
world somewhere and somehow.
Q10)
Comment on the “bottom line” (page 364 A Tribe Apart)
Adults need to talk to adolescents, because it’s a two way learning street. You learn from them and they learn from you. This does not just involve parents it involves
co-workers, neighbors, and teachers.