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

 

 

 

Do We Really Need Another Test?

By Lucas J. Koster

12th Grade

 

 

In the world today, of high tech computers and the Internet, everything Americans do is based on speed.  Some believe that because things are so fast paced that it is causing a conflict in maturation.  They believe children are trying to grow up so fast that they miss the adolescence stage and head for adulthood.  And because of this people think some sort of “right of passage” should be made.  This is not so.  A right of passage is not something that can be chosen and forced like a test, it is achieved differently be each person.

 

What makes each person’s right of passage different is that all people are different.  They reach different stages in their life at a separate point and time and so each person’s bridge to become an adult requires a different step.  For instance, a link between childhood and adulthood for some people might be by going into the Army.  For that type of person, the Army is a link that helps them move to be an adult.  Other things like getting a job or dating might be a type of challenge that helps children develop into adults.  These examples prove that not only is a right of passage is not needed, but there is already an existing passage, which has many doors.

 

Those who believe that a right of passage doesn’t exist try to relate America to the people of Samoa.  Samoans had large tasks when they were very young and this brought structure to their society.  These tests were given before they could be proven adults.  Many things are wrong with this way of behavior.  First, the Samoans are trying to prove they have become adults at the age of four and five.  This is insane because how much could the average child know by the age of five?  In America, this is the kindergarten level.  Not very many kindergartners in America can be considered an adult.  At that age children haven’t learned to decide for themselves, haven’t gone through puberty, and don’t understand what it means to be an adult.  Second, if people are forced to pass a test to prove that they are an adult, a wall is built that keeps people form wanting to be on the other side.  Things on the other side of the wall might be good, but if they can’t see over then they won’t want to go there.  In addition, what is going to happen to the people that fail?  They will ridicule themselves and be cast down by society.  This is why each person needs to find their own bridge to adulthood. It is not necessarily a test, but some type of connection that brings a person from a child to an adult.

 

To make things easier for children to become adults, they need to have good role models.  All children need some type of connection to an adult, whether it is their parents, a close relative, or a teacher.  The adult/child relationship is the main ingredient to building a bridge between the two worlds.  When children have close adult friends they try to become more like the adult rather than stay in the adolescent stage.  The only problem is that today, adults have pushed themselves away from children or teens and can’t find a solution to problems like sex and drugs; it takes longer for a bond to form in the teen/adult relationship.  More time needs to be spent fixing this gap and growing up will be a lot smoother.

 

The last important need of children to become an adult is the need for a good education.  Schools play a vital role in teaching America’s youth which type of adult they should follow.  If schools offered more classes that would relate to real life instead of other, less important classes, children might benefit greater.  Half of what is learned in high school is remembered throughout an adolescent’s whole life.  The other half is just forgotten and this half needs to be changed to things that will teach children how to become decent adults and live in the real world.

 

Of all the links and pathways that children have today to aid them in growing up, a right of passage is not needed.  Things like school and adult/child relationships are the keys to a good upbringing of an adult.  When these things are at their best is going to close the gap between the childhood and adult stages.  It will not be by giving people a test to pass, and not by comparing us to the Samoans.  The only way to bridge the gap is to give children some guidance, and then let them choose their own door.

 

Answers to the Required Reading

 

A-1 She says that people need to live up to their full potential, “Be all that you can be.”  She thinks some people are letting their lives waste and rot away because they aren’t getting the help and encouragement to rise up to their own potential.

 

A-2 I think race and color is less of an issue now.  There is a better acceptance for things or people who are different.

 

A-3 Yes, I agree with Mead.  To Describe culture I would say it is part of someone’s heritage that was past down or taught that makes up the values and personal qualities of a person.

 

A-4 Greater knowledge and control over the civilizing process, she is trying to show how the adolescents need to grow in society.  In our country of fast pace and fast food, there needs to be some kind of link between primitive and civil.

 

A-5 I think parents should set some boundaries to give their children structure.  There is a huge misunderstanding between parents and teens.  Parents don’t want to believe the extreme, like the figures of how many teens drink or have sex, they act like they are totally in the dark.  Well, sometimes when teens say, “Everyone is doing it,” they might be telling the truth.

 

A-6 Alcohol is brought in the school whether it’s in pop bottles or a piece of fruit, kids show up drunk or high once in a while and don’t get caught, and teachers don’t discourage drinking in schools because half of them do it themselves and can’t say anything.

 

A-7 There really isn’t any solution to this problem but I think part of the reason they see these problems so often is because they are looking for them.  While they keep searching for people who might be racist, a suspicion might arise in someone who is watching them.  If you only look for the bad then that is what you will find.  Also, not only blacks get stopped for looking suspicious.  Just the fact that groups of boys are all riding around together may give reason for a cop to be more cautious, and this probably has nothing to do with race.

 

A-8 No, this not only is so impossible that it will never happen, it takes away from the whole learning process.  First, parents do not have time to sit at home to teach kids all the things that schools can.  Second, when different sexes are mixed they learn through experience what it is going to be like in the real world.  If young adults can’t study with the opposite sex when they are younger, they won’t have any better luck after they are twenty.  Going to a public school is one of the most beneficial activities I have experienced and it will not be what hurts the society.

 

A-9 Absolutely, school is so far from the real world, except for the fact that there are sometimes drugs, guns, and fighting going on.  Teachers only know, and only can teach what they have been taught.  This gives no relevance to real life and only prepares you for the part of the world that requires extensive thought, which is very little.  More decisions that people make every day are made in seconds and don’t take and arithmetic formula.

 

A-10 I think a lot of what was written is true.  There needs to be some communication between the adolescents and the adults to help put a link in the gap.  Adults need to want to be a role so kids do not have to be one to other kids.