Newell-Fonda High School
Newell, Iowa
Teacher: Connie Doonan

 

 

A Way of Passage

By Brandon Artist

12th Grade

 

 

Many people say that parent and children conflicts are increasing more and more these days than in the past decades.  Many people also say that all teenagers ever do is drugs, drink alcohol, etc.  There is nothing further from the truth.  Now many adults are thinking that they can help teenagers out by providing a way of passage from being a teenager to becoming an adult.  Although many people have tried to provide solutions to the way of passage problem, they need to remember that they, as a generation, had problems as well and need to leave teenagers alone so those that want to, can find their own ways of passage.

           

When people hear anything about the sixties or seventies, immediately a picture comes to mind of long-haired hippies, smoking marijuana, wearing tie-dye shirts with peace signs on them, bell bottom pants, thin soled sandals, on their way to Woodstock.  Grandparents and parents of the sixties and seventies were probably keeling over because they thought their kids were all on drugs.  Once again, this was an infamous stereotype.  Not everyone had longhair, tie-dye shirts with peace signs, smoking doobies.  Teenagers now aren’t part of a Satanist group such as Goth’s, etc., they don’t all drink, smoke, party all the time, and they all aren’t disrespectful to their parents or other adults.  Teenagers are the most widely distorted and misunderstood age group.  Teenagers face many of the same challenges as parents of teenagers today did when they were teenagers.  Parents of teenagers in the 1960s and 1970s probably thought the same thing that parents do today.  It is obvious that the majority of adults or parents today are productive members of society as teenagers today will be.  Society as a whole needs to give teenagers a chance to prove themselves and not to judge by stereotypes.

           

Teenagers need to be left alone.  When I say that teenagers need to be left alone, I mean they need to find their own way of passage.  Each individual teenager needs to earn his or her own way.  In other words, the majority of teenagers want to succeed, they want to be respected in their beliefs, etc.; therefore, let them be and let them earn their own way of passage just like teenagers of the past or in other words, today's adults.  Americans believe that all their problems can be solved in no more than a few days.  Americans seem to have forgotten that time is of the necessity; to make matters worse, adults think that within a couple of months or years, teenagers are supposed to blossom like a caterpillar from its cocoon into the adult world almost magically.  Adults have forgotten that they were given time to mature and enter the adult world.  Teenagers these days have to mature too quickly due to the fact of both parents working outside the home.  Teen-agers today have to learn to cook, clean, etc., before they are old enough to get their learner’s permit.  Teenagers need that extra time to grow up on their own.  Forcing tee-nagers to grow up too fast puts a strain on them as well as their parents.  Guidance is the key.  However, there is a surmountable difference between guidance and force.  Guidance will allow teenagers the time they need to explore his or her world; in contrast, force will put stress on teenagers too soon, with problems inevitably proceeding.

                

Unsuccessfully, many people have tried to provide solutions to the way of passage problem and forget to realize where they were as teenagers and due to the fact that they were left to find their own ways of passage have become productive members of

society.  Teenagers need to be left alone so they can find their own stepping stone or way of passage into the adult world.  Hopefully, it is beginning to dawn on society that teen-agers can be successful doctors, business men and women, CEO’s, etc.  Granted, not all teenagers are angels and a few have given the majority a bad reputation.  Depending on how a person looks at it, one bad apple can’t always spoil the whole bunch.  It is like a beautiful lawn, similar to teenagers, and there are three or four weeds on it, representing the rebellious groups such as Goths.  The lawn is still beautiful regardless of a couple of miscellaneous weeds.   Please let teenagers be and to let them find their own ways of passage.  They will find their own way of passage specific to their own individuality. Given a chance, they will prove both skeptics and society wrong. 

 

Questions To Answer After Completing 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?

 

A1- …for the future of young people who, in the U.S. 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, in individual fulfillment or defeat.

 

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

 

A1- #3.  Misconceptions about race and color.

 

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 definition of “culture” do you find in your dictionary?

 

A3- I agree with Margaret Mead that culture is man made and we have the power to change it.  Culture:  the guidelines and history carried on by a group of people.

 

Q4- In her writings Margaret Mead was advocating:

 

A4- #2.  Greater knowledge and control over the civilizing process.

 

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”?

 

A5- In my opinion, yes.  This allows us to earn privileges and to realize that you have to work for want you want in life.

 

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

 

A6- I know many people who drink all the time.  I know three people for sure that smoke on a regular basis.

 

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

 

A7- Time is the only solution.  When people begin to realize that black or white, it’s all the same.  People don’t judge other people if they are more tanned then the other.  This

should be the same with black and white people.  Black people are human and also deserve a chance.  One bad apple shouldn’t always spoil the bunch.

 

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?

 

A8- Being in a small school, I’ve always been exposed to that king of atmosphere.  No, I need to be with my friends who admire learning as much as I do.

 

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 real life situations)

 

A9- I haven’t really been exposed to this.  Around my area, there is no need.

 

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

 

A10- I think that in today’s society, that has become more and more true.  One key factor is that parent’s and kids need to respect one another and that all starts at an early age. Having a good relationship with your parents is the main goal.  A good relationship shows trust and makes it easier for young adults to listen to our parents.  As a whole parents and their children need to communicate more.