Concordia High School
Accountability: A Rite of Passage
By Stephanie Swenson
Senior
The heart’s quest for adulthood is a long journey. Each day provides a new path and ruts in the road seem to try and throw one off course. Luckily, we do not have to face the battle alone. We each have mentors who we have looked up to and who have shaped us into who we are today. Now it is time to give something in return.
In the United States today there is no traditional rite of passage. There is no determining factor to indicate when an adolescent progresses to adulthood. Rather, it comes about naturally based on our experiences and the lessons life hands us.
In order to become an adult, one should have to first become accountable for one’s actions. This can be done by establishing a Big Brothers Big Sisters Program that will provide the opportunity for interaction between a high school student and a child in need of a role model from the local elementary school.
When I was crowned Homecoming Queen last September, it taught me many lessons. It is incredible to know that people look up to me and see me as a role model for my school. Now, as I walk down the street, young children will say, “Hey, aren’t you the queen?” This incredible honor made me realize a very valuable lesson. I have to be accountable for my actions at all times, because someone is always watching. Becoming accountable was a rite of passage for me. It was a time in my life when I realized that not only have my mentors had the power to shape my life, I now have the power to shape others.
I believe that requiring each Senior at Concordia High School to fulfill the requirements of the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program would insure a rewarding experience for both the child and the mentor. This program would progress during a semester’s time. The high school guidance counselor would correspond with the elementary school guidance counselor to assign at risk children to mentors based on mutual interests. The mentor would be required to spend at least two hours a week with their child. This time may be used for tutoring or any other planned activity such as fishing, bike riding, or going to a movie. At the end of the semester a seven page paper would be required, outlining the experience, along with an organized collection of photographs taken of the child and the mentor. If the requirements are not fulfilled the student would not receive his or her diploma.
The original Big Brothers Big Sisters Program is popular in large cities. For more than ninety years it has been America’s leading youth-serving organization. The children involved, in most cases, have low self esteem and are in need of the friendship and guidance of an adult. The Big Brothers Big Sisters mentors have influenced the lives of over one million children in thousands of communities. It was founded with the goal of providing a stable, loving, positive influence on the lives of children from a one-parent or any other non-traditional home.
This program would be incredibly beneficial to both the child and the mentor. The child would obtain an increased sense of belonging, which often leads to enhanced communication skills and improved performance at home, at school, and in the community. The mentor would experience the fulfillment of truly making a difference in the life of a child.
According to the web-site, Big Brothers Big Sisters Online, a national impact study conducted by Public and Private Ventures, in 1995, found that the children who participated in this program were forty-six percent less likely than their peers to use illegal drugs. They were twenty-seven percent less likely to start drinking. They were fifty-two percent less likely to skip a day of school. They were overall more trusting of their parents and guardians, and they were reported to feel more supported and less criticized by their peers and friends.
The future of this world rests on the shoulders of the next generation. The children are our key to the future. They have the power to open many valuable treasures. It is up to us, as adults, to provide them with the key. Each needs a role model to look up to for guidance. Through my proposed rite of passage, we would ensure that we are sending mature adults out to tackle the world, and our children will have a firm basis on which they can succeed.
“Big
Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City.” Big Brothers Big Sisters Online.
9 Dec. 1999 <http://www.bbbs-kc.org/>.
Questions Answered After Reading
Required Reading
1. What does Margaret Mead say at the
start of her 1961 Preface to Coming of Age in Somoa that is reminiscent of a
current Army recruiting commercial?
As quoted
from Margaret
Mead’s Coming of Age in Somoa she says,
“the future of young people who, in the United States were becoming less than they
might be because we understood so little about what a difference culture can make.”
This quote is reminiscent of the Army’s, “Be all that you can be.”
2. Which of the following issues of the
1920’s are no longer issues today?
A. The importance of the language spoken
in the home.
B. Familial pressures on children.
C. Misconceptions about race and color.
D. The effects of artificially separating children from a knowledge of birth, love and death.
All of these
are issues today. The language spoken in the home is important since some people in the
United States do not speak English. Families still put pressure on children by expecting
them to excel in their activities. There are still many misconceptions about race and
color since some people are so closed minded that they influence others with their
beliefs. Children today are still affected by lack of care, love and deprivation from
parents not spending enough time with them.
3. 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 definition of “culture” do you find in your dictionary?
Yes, I
agree with Margaret Mead’s statement that culture is man-made and that man is free to
design it closer to the desire of his own heart. Culture is defined as the customs,
beliefs, laws, and ways of living and all other results of human work on thought that
belongs to people.
4. In her writings Margaret Mead was
advocating:
A. A return to primitive ways.
B. Greater knowledge and control over the civilizing process.
C. An integration of the primitive and civilized.
D. None of the above.
In her writings, Margaret Mead was advocating greater knowledge and control over the
civilizing process.
5. 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 is correct in saying that kids smoke, drink, and do drugs at school. She is also correct in saying that they get away with it. When adults do finally see it, they are reluctant to admit that there is a problem. Teenagers want boundaries. Teens without structure tend to be disruptive and have troubles learning. Boundaries show that adults really care.
6. Write three things that you “absolutely, positively know, saw or experienced concerning drugs and alcohol among” students at your school.
I have seen many parties among students of my school. Some have a good time, but some become violent when they drink. From what I’ve seen drugs don’t seem to be that big of a problem, but I choose not to go to parties where I know there will be drugs there.
7. Do you have a solution for the “plight of the black teenager”?(page 88 A Tribe Apart)
We need to start with the man in the mirror. The only way things will get better is if we take a good look at ourselves. If we can look at own actions, realize the harmful consequences, and thus stop the hate, the world will slowly become a better place one person at a time. Others will follow. There is always, at the very least, one person who looks up to you. Whether it be a sibling, peer, or an acquaintance, your positive actions are bound to rub off on them.
Another thing we
need to realize is that we have the entire next generation resting on our shoulders. We
have the power to be positive role models and pass on positive values to our children. If
we teach them discriminatory beliefs we are only adding to the problem. The next
generation of the world is ours to decide.
8. 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?
Even though a person may acquire a better “book knowledge,” their people skills would be hurt immensely. A person needs to have a good education, but they need people skills to be able to function properly in the work place. Today, companies who hire people straight out of college look not only at grades, but at how active the person is and how well they work with others. Single-sex schools and home schooling keep students from learning to work with people different from themselves. When these students are let into the real world, they will be unprepared for the situations that may arise. Their “book smarts” won’t efficiently help them survive.
9. Comment on the line form 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 real life situations)
In response to the quotes, I agree that schools don’t teach students real life skills, or how to live. People in school are dulled because we all know the real world is different from what they try to teach us. Schools just teach us skills to help us in the job world, which are not life-helping skills. Classes that are community-based would help students understand the community and the real world.
10. Comment on the “bottom line.” (page 364A A Tribe Apart)
The section of “A Tribe Apart” labeled “the bottom line” described how much adolescents need a trusting adult to confide in and look up to. It discussed how society should stop looking at adolescents as a tribe, but rather we look at each of them as unique individuals. My adolescent generation is merely doing the best we can in order to figure out who we are in a world that seems to stack mountains between us and our goal. I agree totally with this article in many ways. My trusted adult was my mom, who’s given me such wonderful insight to my life. She helped me cross my mountain. This article definitely recognized our need for guidance.