Concordia High School
Concordia, Kansas
Teacher: Judy Zimmerman

           

  

 

Teens' Rite of Passage
Dustin Deneault

Grade 12

 

 

“Another teen shot down”, “teen drug use on the rise”, “four students killed in school shoot out”, and “adolescents’ grades have been plummeting” are common headings used by the media in an effort to describe immoral and unjust actions of teens today.  Most often these depictions give adolescents of today a relentless title of being unsatisfactory for modern adult values.  How can teens prove, in this modern society, that they are ready and capable for the challenges handed to them?  Most kids have proven, in a variety of ways, they are competent for the adult world.  There are, however, a few objectives teens should address to better their media label.  These points will be illustrated in conjunction with the rites of passage.

               

Earning my driver’s license was definitely one of the highlights in my high school career. When I was in elementary school, there always seemed to be something mystical about the ability to drive.  The fact that these people were given a privilege, which the adult population respected and honored, is what encouraged youngsters to look forward to receiving  their license.  The respect, given by the adult population for these licenses, stem from several facets.  The first of these is the examination required by applicants.  This consists of testing their familiarity with traffic signs and signals, safety rules, and road laws.  With the passing of the test comes the road examination, checking the applicant’s driving skills.  Vision skills are the final evaluation.  With the completion of those three facets, the applicant of proper age, becomes an official licensed driver.  The community acknowledges his or her accomplishments by allowing the person the responsibility of driving.  Thus, the milestone of getting a license represents one of the first steps in the rites of passage.

               

Another significant event marking my entrance into the adult world is Confirmation.  Confirmation, which has been carried out thousands of years, is a major sacrament in the Catholic church.  It shows the adult members of our church that the candidates are ready for the clurgical challenges imposed upon them.  Several stipulations are also associated with this sacrament.  The first is the requirement of 20 service hours from every candidate.  These hours can be earned through helping the church or community.  I, along with several other candidates, also attended a retreat.  This consisted of listening to speakers talk about our faith along with games that implemented social structure.  The third item was a report given over our Confirmation saint.  Finally, every candidate chose a sponsor.  This was an older confirmed adult member who gently guided us with social structure on our way to Confirmation.  With the completion of those requirements, we could finally be confirmed and considered as adult members in our church.

               

In our school, the Renaissance program is a valuable tool by which students can prove to the adult world that they are competent.  The program consists of awarding  students that improve attendance or meet academic goals.  Each student that accomplishes a goal will receive a special membership card.  In our school, for example, we have gold, red, white, and silver cards.  The gold card, given to 4.0 students, offers the best rewards.  Free ACT regristration, free t-shirt, three free movie passes, and a pizza feed are a few.  The red card(3.5-3.99 G.P.A.) and white card(3.0-3.49 G.P.A.) have a few rewards.  For those academically challenged, they still have a chance for the silver card which is given to those with perfect attendance.  This card also consists of a few satisfactory rewards.  Along with the receival of the academic cards, students’ names are printed in the local newspaper.  All these incentives basically give students motivation to excel, much as business people do in the real world.  Tom Pairizo agrees as he states, “In business, you’ve got bonuses and pay raises-that’s the American way.  Why should education be different?”

               

A senior project could further indulge the adult society’s respect for adolescents.  Concordia High School doesn’t employ such a project, but the bonuses of such a task could prove beneficial.  The basic criteria for this undertaking would be modeled off the adult world.  Students would first have to find a problem which needs addressed.  The problem could be originated with the school or the community.  Skills we have gained thus far in school would then be applied to find an economical solution.  This solution would then be put to work, with the completion of the project.  The adolescents which best solve problems should then be recognized in the local newspaper along with the reflection of a higher grade.  Society would also give recognition to the students for the work they accomplished for the betterment of today’s world.

               

Students have always strived for the acknowledgment from the adult world that they are capable and responsible.  With the comply of society, teenagers may finally be considered an adult in a world separated by the rites of passage.  

                     

Bibliography

 

“Driver’s License.”  New Standard Encyclopedia.  Ed. Standard Educational Corporation.

                Vol. 6.  Chicago, 1992.

 

Strand, Bonnie-Kay, and Goestch, Sheilagh, letter of May 16, 1992.  In possession of Mr.   Reines Concordia High School.  Concordia, Ks. 66901.

 

Susan E. Tifft.  “Bribes or Incentives.”  America’s Agenda.  Fall 1992 P. 9.

 

 Answers To Questions

 

 

Q1- What does Margaret Mead say at the start of her 1961 Preface to Coming Of Age in Samona that is reminiscent of a current Army recruiting commercial.

 

As given by Magaret Mead in Coming Of Age In Samoa, the line “..in the United States [young people] were becoming less than they might be because we understood so little about what a difference culture can make, in terms of stress and strain,” is reminiscent of the Army recruiting commercial, “Be all you can be.” Magaret is basically elaborating on the true fact that teens of today, plagued by several problems, are not reaching their full potential.  The Army commercial is using this fact by advertising their ability to help teens of today be all they can be.

 

Q2 - Which of the following issues of the 1920’s are no longer issues today?

                1.             The importance of the language spoken in the home

                2.             Family pressures on children

                3.             Misconceptions about race and color

                4.             The effects of artificially separating children from a knowledge of birth, love, and death

 

  

Q3 - Do you agree with Margaret Mead that “culture is man-made and that man is free to design it closer to the desires of his own heart”?  What definitions of “culture” do you find in your dictionary?

 

I agree with Margaret Mead that culture is man-made.  Culture happens to be the bi-product of human interactions and needs.  It fuels off the expectations and desires of societies as a whole.  In other words, without man there would be no culture to speak of.  I do, however, happen to be in contrast with the idea that man is free to design culture closer to the desires of his own heart.  Culture stems off the physical confrontations of a civilized group of people.  This keeps culture from changing simply by the desires of man’s heart.  The fifth definition of culture, as given by Webster’s New World Dictionary, includes “the ideas, skills, arts, tools, and way of life of a certain people in a certain time.”

 

Q4 - In her writing 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

 

    

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”?

 

 Susan’s speech does surface some very important topics dealing with alcohol and drug abuse in the school system.  It states how students can easily get away with doing drugs and drinking alcohol during school.  I personally believe the thrill of fooling teachers is one of the main reasons students participate in that kind of behavior.  If you take away the thrill, you also take away the abuse.  The speech also makes a point that in order to stop this, teachers and parents need to start realizing that the problem exists and needs to be addressed.  Adverse actions by our teachers and adult community would definitely help in the lessening of drug and alcohol abuse.  My peers and I would like society to know what is going on and enforce boundaries and structure.  These problems many times become old and need to be stopped.  Students also abuse drugs in an effort to find some sort of structure.  If no one happens to give them this structure, they will continue trying to find it.

 

Q6 - Write three things that you “absolutely, positively know, saw, or experienced concerning drugs and alcohol among” students at your school.

 

I heard of a couple people who went to prom under the influence of alcohol.  I know of a student who mixed vodka with pop and drank it before  the last day of school.  I also saw a few students under the influence of alcohol at a dance.

 

Q7 - Do you have a solution for the “plight of the black teenager”? (page 88 A Tribe Apart)

 

I really don’t have a solution for the “plight of the black teenager.”  If racism could be eliminated, the problem would be solved.  The main thing the teenager has to do is continue achieving good grades.  In the long run, those who discriminated against him for being black or being a good student will be far worse off than the black teenager.

 

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 exiting way and learning was admired even by peers?

 

Going to classes with the intention of learning would be a big relief for myself.  Doing this would alleviate several sources of stress including pressure to sustain good grades.  I don’t believe I would be happy being schooled at home or at a single-sex private school.  I happen to like learning in an environment filled with a variety of  people.  I would enjoy, however, being taught academics that are presented in an exciting way at public school.  I also believe this method would be a source of stress relief.

 

Q9 - Comment on the line from Pete Seeger, “Schools are like prisons because they don’t teach you how to live.”   And Johnathan’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 real life situations)

 

I believe Pete Seeger is correct when he compares schools to prisons by associating their lack in teaching how to live.  In schools, students are forced to go to class, take required courses, and complete required projects.  In prisons, inmates are forced to go to lunch at a set time, have limits on “free time,” and must obey prison laws.  In both of these cases, students and inmates were forced or required to obey certain laws.  This in turn keeps student and inmates from having the freedom required to learn how to live and become an individual.  In my opinion, people in schools are dulled by the remoteness to the real world.  I notice in several of my classes, when the teacher lectures, students tend to become bored.  If the class involves a hands on project, similar to one in the real world, the students interest soars and learning becomes interesting.  Classes incorporating community-based learning would be helpful.  Students would learn more about ideas and values associated with the real world, enhancing their understanding of society.

 

Q10 - Comment on the “bottom line” (page 364 A Tribe Apart)

 

I believe that the “bottom line” (page 364 A Tribe Apart) is telling us that not only do adolescents need physical structure, but they also require mental structure from older adults.  This may include listening and responding to their curiosities and questions.  Being a caring role model is also a valuable facet of demonstrating mental structure.  If adolescents don’t receive this support, they will tend to capture it from their peers.  What their peers portray more often than not happens to be from an immoral nature.  The only way we can break this cycle is to become more involved and respond to teens’ emotional needs.