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

 

 

Crossing Rivers

By Kara A. Wells

12th Grade

 

 

Crossing a river can be a perilous journey, unless, of course, there is a sturdy bridge to take the traveler from one side to the other.  When no bridge exists, the traveler is left to decide for himself the best way to cross.  Those with prior guidance in river crossings will prove to be more successful than those needing to learn on their own.  The same analogy holds true in the journey of life, especially the crossing from childhood to adulthood.  In traditional societies it has long been accepted that young people need a rite of passage and the guidance of wise elders to provide them the bridge for crossing.  Today's American society seems to have left young people to their own devices in the transition to adulthood.  Without proper instruction from elders, who have had their own rites of passage, many adolescents are inventing their own rituals and drowning in the process.  The newspapers are filled with default rites of passage:  vandalism, gang activity, pregnancy, fighting and other self-destructive, life-threatening activities, such as drinking and driving and doing drugs.  It is imperative that these teens are given some other alternatives that will provide for them a safe passage into the adult world.  Adults must reconnect the adolescent community to their own with community-based rites of passage.

    

If communities do not provide symbolic rituals marking the rites of passage, teenagers will have to come up with their own.  Life is confusing and scary enough without having to make up the rules along the way.  The truth of the matter is that most young people would prefer more structure and boundaries in their life.  They want adults to pay more attention to them and to know what is going on in theirs lives.  They want adults to share their values, standards, and points of view to serve as a basis for formulating their own.  They want adults not to preach to them, or avoid their questions and ideas, but to listen.  They want adults to convey a sense of safety and control.  They want boundaries and structure because they want security and consistency.  Teenagers need the opportunity to apprentice, to be involved in service projects and community decisions.  They need opportunities to show that they are independent, powerful people.  They need to be guided to activities that allow them to take risks in ways that enhance, rather than threaten, their own and other's well-being.

   

 It's time for adults to take a look at themselves as role models, mentors and guides. Adolescents need these things more than ever, but adults are no longer around to provide them.  American society seems to have left its children behind as they are growing up with parents who are still seeking answers for themselves as to what it means to be an adult.  In the meantime, children are assuming more adult responsibilities in the absence of working or irresponsible parents.  Children are spending more and more time alone in unsupervised environments.  Adult space has become theirs.  So where is the transition into adulthood?

    

Certainly, some religions offer their teenagers rites of passage.  Because the initiates must pass certain steps in these rites, they hold special meaning.  Families may have their own rites of passage by setting certain time lines for specific privileges, like dating or using the family car.  Some organizations and clubs have rites of passage within their own groups.  Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts, and 4-H would be good examples of groups that have progression.  Our communities in general, however, are lacking in ways for teens to interact with adults. The amount of risk to the nation's teens is unacceptable.  It is time for our communities to initiate rites of passage for our youth.  I believe that the solution is definitely not, as some adults would put it, "too complex to imagine."

    

One very simple, inexpensive way for communities to provide a sense of passage for their teens would be to establish a forum for teens and adults to come together.  This could be a problem-solving forum, or just a non-threatening environment where teens could express their opinions on community issues.  Communities might consider a student representative as part of the city council.  The important part of such forums would be the opportunity for teens to feel a valued part of the community and for them to have a voice in the presence of adults who are listening and care about what they are saying.  At the same time, teens would benefit from the experience and wisdom of their mentors. 

   

 Today's teens may not have any rites of passage in the sense of being initiated into the world by an elder or by having to pass tests of courage.  It will happen for them when they feel accepted into the adult world by adults who take them seriously.  Our communities can either build the bridges that will show our teens the safest and easiest way to cross into adulthood or continue to allow them to sink or swim.

 

Completed Questions After Required Reading

 

 

Q1)  Margaret Mead says, "Young people in the United States were becoming less than they might be because we understood so little about what a difference   culture can make."  This is reminiscent of the current Army recruiting commercial that uses the slogan, "Be all that you can be."

   

 Q2)  I believe that all four of these issues of the 1920's are still extremely important issues today, especially the issue concerning familial pressures on children.

    

Q3)  Yes, I strongly 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."  We, as a society,

surround ourselves with what we need, what we believe, what we see as acceptable, and what we want; this becomes our culture, and thus, we create our culture. nation in the world would have the same culture, and this is definitely not the case.  By the book, the definition of culture is: socially transmitted behavior patterns, or social and artistic expression and activity.

 

Q4)  Margaret Mead was advocating greater knowledge and control over the civilizing process.

   

 Q5)  I admire Susan and greatly respect her for what she said in her speech.  She at least got the adults to open their eyes a little, although they didn't respond

correctly or take the right action.  Susan was courageous, she was honest, and she was concerned.  Her speech was an excellent indication of the dangerous activities many students partake in right underneath their teachers' noses, and it should have been circulated to adults and teachers all over the nation.  Of course we want adults to recognize what is going on and enforce boundaries and structure.  We want adults to pay more attention. We want adults not to preach to us or avoid our questions and ideas, but to listen. We want adults to convey a sense of safety and control.  We want adults' point of view, and to know their values and their standards.  We want boundaries and structure because we want security and consistency.

   

 Q6)  I have witnessed several classmates and many other students consuming alcohol, and I have seen some of my classmates drunk.  Also, I knew of someone who sold drugs.

   

 Q7)  First, let me say that there is no immediate solution.  As long as the older generation keeps passing on their discriminatory views to their children, the

situation has no chance of improving very much.  However, I believe the future will offer a much brighter situation for the black teenager if we continue

diversity education and stress equality to our young children.  Also, any teenager today needs to present himself or herself in a manner relative to the way they

want to be treated.

   

 Q8)  I don't think the answer would have to involve home-schooling or private school. The answer is incorporating excitement with academics no matter what

 environment in which you are learning.  I, for example, find school extremely boring because subjects and ideas, for the most part, are presented in the same way.  Never is there a change in the "daily routine", and I often lose interest in things that I might have had a lot of fun with if they were presented differently.

   

 Q9)  I agree totally with their comments, especially Jonathan's.  Schools don't teach enough to prepare children for real life situations, and I think the obvious answer is to incorporate community-based learning.  I think this is an excellent idea.  More activities or classes that are relevant to actual real life situations need to be included in the school year.

 

 Q10)  I agree strongly with all of the points made in the "bottom line".  It is so important that teens have mentors and role models, or someone that will just

simply accept us for who we are.  We do crave more regular contact with adults who care about us and respect us.  We want relationships with adults and more

communication.  I strongly agree that "adults must reconnect the adolescent community to theirs."  The amount of risk to the nation's teens is unacceptable and I believe that the solution is definitely not "too complex to imagine."