Paoli High School
Paoli, Oklahoma
Teacher:
Melinda Alfred
Adulthood
for the 21st Century
by
Adrienne Huffines
12th
grade
894 words
In ancient
times, Greeks and Romans put young men through tests and trials of combat to prove their
manhood. Girls were trained from the time they could walk to become wives and mothers.
They faced tests and difficulties of their own to prove they were ready to marry. Marring
was seen as a sign of womanhood displaying to others that she was no longer a girl. In our
more recent history certain Native American culture took the young men of the tribe out
into the wild for survival and hunting tests before they would be considered warriors, a
title of maturity and social acceptance. These cultures all had an initiation into
adulthood, a rite of passage. In modern society, however, living in the wilderness on your
own to prove maturity is a bit archaic. It would be in our community’s best interest
to find a simple but challenging rite of passage for its ever growing and ever more
confused population of adolescents.
Many youth
look upon adults with awe. Adults are seen as
a symbol of leadership, independence, and freedom. They
make their own decisions and for the most part, control their own lives. Young people desire greatly for adults to see
their accomplishments and acknowledge that they are growing into what an adult is intended
to be. Adolescents want the personal freedom
they associate with adulthood for their own. They
create their own initiation rites to prove to those around them they have grown up. These rites of passage can vary greatly as
can the reaction they provoke from adults. Body
piercing, taken to an extreme, tattooing, and drinking
are all things that are considered inaccessible and taboo for children. Adolescents
seem to think that these diversions prove that they are mature and old enough to be
considered an adult. Instead, most
adults look upon these actions as irresponsible and childish, proving to them that the
adolescents of today have a long way to go to achieve maturity and the status of
adulthood. These acts are not only seen
as immature but dangerous as well. The impressions of reckless and irresponsible behavior
by young people have led more and more adults to look upon today’s adolescents with
mistrust. The more young people try to appear grown up the less mature they look. They
have no true concept of what an adult is or what being an adult means. So therefore, their
endeavors to become adults do not often go as planned.
It is an
understood and accepted fact that human behavior is learned. The youth of today are more
confused and disoriented than they have ever been before. They are confused about the
future, where they are going, and what role in society they are supposed to fill. The past few generations seem to lack the
knowledge of life and maturity that they should have been taught.
Many cultures have a rite of passage for youth. This prepares them for adulthood and aids in gaining recognition for what they can do as adults. Local communities should create their own initiation, or rite of passage, into adulthood for the young people that reside there. In the past it is true that graduating was just such an initiation, however, as time has progressed this has not remained so. Instead a partnership between the adults and those trying to become adults should be encouraged. We see so many programs that pair up the young with both youth and adults like the Big Brother program. What I am proposing is similar in some ways; Match young people with adults that are productive members of society so that these adults can show the younger generations what adulthood is really like. The youth should not just spend time with one person but other adults as well. The adults need to provide these young people with a realistic view of adulthood, in an environment that is educational, fun, and structured. Challenges should be presented to the youth not so much for the adults to gauge how far they have come, but so that the youth themselves can see what they have accomplished. This partnership with adults would help young people with their lives, especially the difficult transition from youth to adulthood. In the days of apprenticeship, one would not go to a carpenter to learn to make cloth. Young people need to learn from adults how to become better adults. An initiation into adulthood is not only for young people to gain respect. To gain maturity is also important.
Today’s
young people are inexperienced and ill prepared for adulthood. They are trying so hard to
become adults at such an early age and often in the wrong way. Being an adult is not only
about being able to do things that children cannot. Adulthood is not about making
irresponsible choices just because you can make the decision yourself. Being an adult is
about being capable, taking care of difficult situations, making sacrifices, and making
wise decisions.
The youth
in America need a challenge, and they need to be shown the right path to adulthood. They
also need to see for themselves that they are capable of being important, respected, and
productive adults. A rite of passage may be what is needed to accomplish a healthy and
productive transition into adulthood.
Essay Questions
1.) She
says young people are “becoming less than they might be”. The army says to “be all that you can
be”.
2.) I feel
that these are still issues today.
3.) Yes. Culture- the act of developing intellectual and
moral faculties.
4.) 4-
none of the above
5.) I
think that we as young people need boundaries. Many adults do not see or understand how
hectic and difficult our lives are. They do not understand what we are faced with every
day. We need something solid, something to
hold onto.
6.)
1. Some
kids have bragged about getting stoned, coming to school and not getting caught.
2.Drugs
have been passed in the break room.
3.Friends
have been asked to go smoke during lunch.
7.) It
seems that every time anything happens to a race, discrimination and racism is immediately
brought into the picture. If we could move on and leave the past were it belongs people
could see that not everything is about race. I do not believe in looking at a
person’s nationality to determine what I think of them. There will always be people who believe in they
are above others because of there race or background.
However I do not think it is as prevalent as it used to be.
8.)No No If all we did was go to school and learn what
was taught there we would be ill equipped to handle the real world.
9.)
“Schools are like prisons because they don’t teach you how to live.” I
agree I do not think that when we are in school we learn what living is. “People in
school are dulled by the remoteness to the real world.” I also agree with that statement. In school there
are kids that think since they sailed through school real life should be easy and
it’s not. I’m not sure that
incorporating community based learning is the answer.
10.) I
agree that young people need adults to be close too. We all look up to someone whether we
realize it or not. We all need someone to
talk to, who understands, and cares about us.