Concordia High School
Concordia, Kansas
Teacher: Timothy Berger

 

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Reaching Adulthood

By Tanya Paul

12th Grade

 

 

Remembering back to our childhood days, we used to dream of what it would be like to become an adult.  Now that the time has come, we wonder what characterizes us as adults.  Today we have no set “rite of passage.”  This leads kids to believe that the only way to be initiated into the older class is to participate in adult activities like drinking, doing drugs, having sex, and getting body piercings or tattoos.  Is this the right foot we want “our future” to step out on?  Maturity is a major necessity for entering adulthood.  A lot of kids leave high school thinking they can goof off and get away with what they did as a kid.  If they smoked pot while going to school, they will probably do it after.  Then they have higher chances of getting caught and punished severely.  Being an adult means to take your life seriously and think about settling down and raising a family.  We need a way to teach kids the good characteristics of an adult.  The only way to do this is to propose a senior project.

 

Most schools that do have a senior project either write an essay or do community service projects.  Writing an essay allows kids to gain more self-confidence, develop focused career plans, and to obtain scholarships and jobs (REL NETWORK, p.1).  The purpose is to make sure the student is able to apply, analyze, synthesize, evaluate the information, and explain what he or she has learned (CVHS, p.1).  Community service teaches kids leadership, respect for authority, self worth, and the importance of volunteering.  Volunteering allows you to meet new people, learn how to care for others, learn responsibility, and make individual sacrifices.

All schools should make it a requirement to have a senior project, which includes the essay and the community service project.  The essay would deal with the process of the community project the senior chooses.  The community projects have to improve some aspect in the community. Each senior will be responsible for getting an advisor for his or her project, which is stated in the paper.  The paper must also consist of a specific step-by-step process of how the project will be accomplished.  Businesses and organizations are encouraged to sponsor a senior.  If a senior does not get sponsored, money for his or her project will be taken out of the class’s account.  Along with doing his or her project, he or she must volunteer to help with two additional classmate’s projects.

The starting day of the essay will be February 1st.  Students will begin by brainstorming and getting some suggestions from the teacher or their class sponsor.  At least 3 sources are needed for the paper.  The paper should consist of about 750 words.  The final paper will be due April 1st.  Every senior at this point signs up to help with two other projects.  The students have till May 16 to finish their projects.  If they do not finish, they do not graduate.  At the graduation ceremony, one senior will be chosen for writing the best essay and receive a $1,000 scholarship. Everyone benefits from having the senior project.  The people will feel better about the community because it shows the positive side teenagers have, and the kids are now ready to break from the nest and head out on their own as an adult.  This is a goal in itself.

Now it is time for the graduating seniors to leave home.  Here is where the responsibilities pour on.  In order to pay the bills, a job is mandatory.  Just think, there is car insurance, rent, food, electricity, water, heat and air conditioning to pay for.  Housekeeping and laundry are taken from the mother and given to the inexperienced.  He or she makes all decisions from this point on.  It is their life now and it is their job to make the best of it.  How do they gain this responsible lifestyle?  Well, it starts at home.  Success of others differentiates right and wrong.  Volunteering to do chores around the house helps your neatness skills and kills laziness.

In conclusion, our future is our children.  They will soon be the rulers of the earth.  Now is the time to prepare them for the journey that lies ahead.

“Server Supports Educators for Senior Project.”  REL NETWORK.  July 3, 1999. < http://www.relnetwork.org/news/news34.html

“CVHS Culminating Project Requirement.”  CVHS. 1994.  < http://www.cvsd.k12.pa.us/CVHS/GUIDANCE/Hssrproj.nclk

 

National Govt.                                                                                      Tanya Paul

Berger-5th hour                                                                         Group Members:

                                                                                                            Cory D.

                                                                                                            Nick J.

                                                                                                            John Hake

                                                                                                            Matt M.

 

1.                  What does Margaret Mead at the start of her 1961 Preface to Coming of Age

In Samoa that is reminiscent of a current Army recruiting commercial?

 

The current slogan for the army is “Be all that you can be.”  Margaret Mead had the same idea when she wrote the introductory paragraph to her 1961 preface.  However, she states that many teenagers are not living up to what they could become.  This is because the United States does not stress culture and heritage.  Therefore, teenagers do not understand their backgrounds and are not living up to their full potential.

 

2.                  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.      Familial pressures on children

3.      Misconceptions about race and color

 

The importance of the language spoken in the home had dramatically decreased since the 1920s.  With heritage becoming less important with each coming year, people tend to care less that their natural language is spoken in their household.

 

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, the act of developing by education and training; a particular form or stage of civilization.

 

4.                  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

 

The answer is 3) an integration of the primitive and civilized.

 

5.         Comment on Susan’s speech.  Do you and your peers really want adults to

recognize what is going on and to enforce “boundaries and structure”?

 

I feel love knowing that my parents put restrictions on me.  If they didn’t, I could

be getting in trouble with the law or in school.  Parents need to take charge now and keep their kids in line.

 

6.         Write three things you “absolutely, positively know, saw or experience concerning drugs and alcohol among” students at your school.

 

            I’ve saw people drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, and smoke marijuana.  People

            think its cool to drink and smoke, but not do marijuana.  Even though both of

            them are against the law, but smoking marijuana can get you more in trouble with

            the law.

 

7.                  Do you have a solution for the “plight of the black teenager”?

 

Discrimination is spreading rapidly throughout the world.  I feel there is no way we can stop it, but there’s a way we can control it and learn how to deal with its consequences.  We need to offer classes to people having to face discrimination.  Most people are unsure of what they would do if someone from another race started to pick on them because of their race.

 

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?

 

Yes, it would be a relief because I would not have to put up with discriminatory actions and distractions.  I would not enjoy being home-schooled or attending a single-sex school.  It wouldn’t be fun without the opposite sex.

 

9.                  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 real life situations)

 

Schools don’t teach you how to make your own decisions and to learn from their consequences.  Many school officials aren’t efficient in giving the same punishment for the same rule that was broken.  In many cases, they favor the kids that’s parents are popular in the community.  We should have more classes on community-based learning so we can understand the laws in our community and be familiar with our background.  Why should we learn about bigger cities when we can’t relate to them?

 

10.              Comment on the “bottom line.”

 

The “bottom line” mostly consists of kids and the way their parents pay attention to them.  It also consists of the way children have become disconnect from their families.  It merely states that parents need to make time to spend with their children.