Newell-Fonda High School
Newell, Iowa
Teacher: Connie Doonan
A Time of Change
By Trisha Miller
12th Grade
In America today, it is sad to say that teens are showing increasing signs of declining morals. There is loss of respect for not only the elders and adults, but also the society as a whole. Drugs, alcohol, and sex seen to be experimented with by younger age groups every year. Some teens seem to have no desire to excel in school, to make something out of their lives. They would rather get drunk, party, or maybe even get high than focus on education. By not being taught the true advantages of being an adult, teens think by doing all of this shows how mature they are; however, it doesn’t. Teens need to realize that becoming an adult doesn’t just give them rights, it carries responsibilities along with the privileges. Not all teens live a life full of mistakes and wrong doings, but the number of good, mature, adult-ready students is scarce. The question is how are teens, living like they are, going to be ready for adulthood? Is it time for local communities to initiate a right of passage?
The term “right of passage” means a ritual associated with a crisis or change of status for an individual. The journey of life is a series of passages that must be bridged to fulfill our purpose for being. This journey begins with birth and ends with death. Life is a succession of stages or passages. Everything that happens to us, birthdays, baptisms, graduation, getting a job, losing a job, marriage, childbirth, divorce, death-affect people. Adolescence, as a stage of life, is one of the most difficult and important. It is that period of time after childhood, yet before adulthood. Countless young males and females in America today who refuse to take on the responsibilities of adulthood, who are consumed by childish self-centeredness, condemn themselves to a life stuck in adolescence, never truly growing up.
Different races, cultures, and heritages resulting in a lack of a single set of spiritual beliefs populate many communities. There are so many different spiritual beliefs in America; therefore, there are no universal rites of passage. Sure there is the right of receiving a driver’s license when a teen comes of age. Driving an automobile may be a big part of life, but is it a rite of passage? The whole “car-freedom” attitude is ingrained into youth’s mind at a very early age, and applying for a license is a transition point, still it’s not an adequate rite of passage to becoming an adult. In kids’ minds, driving a car is a privilege of a sixteen-year-old; however, these teens don’t necessarily take on all of the responsibilities that come along with it. Parents take care of them, paying for insurance, making car payments, and basically most of the cost needs. Kids take advantage and recklessly drive and speed, not caring what their consequences might be.
Another spurious rite of passage might be a person coming of age to buy cigarettes, which is usually eighteen. They believe because they smoke, they are more adult-like. These and possibly younger students smoke, but they also drink, engage in premarital sex, and even do drugs. These are not adulthood activities; they are even more immature. The fault is not theirs alone, there are so many movies, television shows, and music videos focusing on these bad influences. Very few people are taking a stand to stop this behavior. Most parents don’t know that their children practice such things, and those that do don’t put much of a stop to it. Parents need to be more informed of what their children are doing. Society is so focused on making money, that the most important things in life are being pushed aside. For instance, families aren’t as strong as they once were in previous generations. Because of jobs to bring in money to meet the demands of our world, parents are rarely home. Parents need to take more time to sit down with their children and talk with them about the issues facing this world today. They don’t need to know their children’s every move; however, they do need to get to know them a little better without imprisoning them in their own lives. They world is changing faster and faster every day; consequently, teen’s lives today are going to be different from their parents. Parents just need to slow their hectic lives down a bit to give themselves a chance to properly communicate with their children. This could help with all the problems facing teen today.
In the American society everyone is steadily exposed to people of various cultural and social backgrounds. Usually these great diversities are part of the same general community. With this in mind, communities can not create a standard rite of passage for every individual. In this case, communities should be obligated to prepare teens for adulthood. They need to give them more responsibilities within the community. Starting in the homes with younger ages, parents need to give children the mindset that they will soon be taking on responsibilities in the community. It has to be a group effort. Parents should involve their children in the community at a young age, so that by the time they are going through adolescence, they will be ready to take on responsibilities without being overwhelmed. There are already underlying rites of passages such as the transition from high school status, to college, to the workplace. Although these aren’t the set rites of passage in America, they are some of the few common transitions we share within this diversified culture.
There is no easy solution to this rite of passage situation; however, communities could begin by adding more responsibilities to a child’s life as they mature. Also by teaching them leadership skills that will help them prepare for their role in society. Respect needs to begin in the homes to carry on into the community. Adolescents need to know their role in the community, and both parents and teachers are responsible to help them prepare for these future roles. Therefore, America doesn’t need one specific rite of passage for teens becoming adults, but a combination of the proper examples, guidance, and preparation for adulthood. Adolescents today need to be introduced into the adult world properly so that the future generation of teenagers will be excited to take on the responsibilities of becoming an adult.
Answers to the Questions
1. In the beginning of her 1961 Preface to Coming of Age in Somoa, Margaret Mead is saying that young children today are becoming less than all they can be. This is reminiscent of the Army’s “Be All You Can Be” commercial.
2. The effects of artificially separating children from a knowledge of birth, love, and death is an issue of the 1920’s which is no longer an issue today. Television shows too much killing, violence, sex, drugs, and many other disturbing acts that children shouldn’t have access to. They come to believe that love is displayed through sexual acts rather than through marriage. These television shows are taking away from the values of our young children today.
3. I agree with Margaret Mead that “culture is man-made.” Again television shapes our cultures by showing us what is right, what is cool, what clothes to wear, and even what size we should be. The dictionary meaning of culture is the act of developing the intellectual and moral faculties especially by education.
4. In her writings, Margaret Mead was advocating greater knowledge and control over the civilizing process.
5. In Susan’s speech she speaks of wanting adults to recognize what is going on in her and the other students lives, and to enforce “boundaries and structure”. I partially agree with her beliefs on the issue. I want my parents to know of what is going on in my life to a certain point; however, not to the point that I feel imprisoned in my own life. We need our space and privacy, and there are just some things that parents don’t need to know.
6. I know of students who have done drugs at our school, I’ve seen students from our school smoking, and I also know of students that drink who attend our school.
7. My solution for the “plight of the black teenager” would have to start in the home where children have the most influence. If parents teach their children to not have racist views while they are growing up they will in turn most likely not be racist in the future. They will also carry these non-racist values on to younger generations.
8. It would not be a relief if all I had to do was “go to classes and learn”. I enjoy attending a high school full of different races, beliefs, values, and views on different issues. We need to experience different atmospheres. If all we did was go to class and learn about just the specific subject, we would be deprived of the everyday socialization between students with different views and opinions on certain issues brought up in class. Therefore, I would not want to be home-schooled or attend a single-sex private school where learning isn’t admired evenly by peers.
9. I disagree with the comments by Pete Seeger and Jonathan. I believe that schools offer several classes that bring about real life situations along with the basic classes. For example, child care or family living classes, business and economics classes, and internships, which allow the student to go out an experience the world. Classes incorporating community-based learning would be helpful, but there are already many classes helping students.
10. I greatly agree with the “bottom line” form the article Tribe Apart. There are so many teens experimenting with drugs, alcohol, and sex these days. Parents need to realize what’s going on in the world. They need to take time to sit down with their kids and talk about the issues that teens face. They can’t just sit back and deny the fact that their own children could be doing such things. Times have changed, and along with that parents need to change their ways of helping their children. They need to prepare them for this crazy world we live in.