Paoli High School

Paoli, Oklahoma
Teacher: Melinda Alfred

 

 

The Time Is Now

A Rite of Passage For Today’s Youth

by Jani Bittle

12th grade

 

 

Today's young people are in a very challenging time. We have entered into a new millennium and will now face decisions no other society has ever faced before. Our communities need to help us figure out exactly where our "childish" years end and when we need to become responsible. Who else can we turn to if our town and its residents will not help us draw this line. It is important to me to know at what point irresponsibility should stop and responsibility should come into play.

           

Being an adult seems to be a very hard and trying time to the older people I know. Some people that we call adults do not fit the meaning that comes to mind when this word is stated. What does the word adult mean? Webster's dictionary defines an adult as "fully developed and mature." Although this is the general definition that we think of when we think adult, sometimes it is not always true. In my community the so called "adults" sometimes drink, do drugs, and a lot of things that should not be done fter you reach maturity. If Webster's is right then these people actually aren't adults at all! So, when is this stage actually reached? Where does it begin and where does it end? Who has the real definition? My community can play an important role in finding this out.

           

In about four months my classmates and I will graduate from our small high school in the community and small town of Paoli, Oklahoma. In the U.S. this is considered a time of adulthood in a young person's life. But, I don't feel like an adult just because this is what society calls a graduate. Although school is challenging and we do a lot of work, it does not mean that we are ready for the "real world." Many of the seniors in my class will be going to college or starting new jobs after graduation. Although we may feel like adults we still have many things to face. Graduation is only the beginning of what being an adult really entails.

           

In other societies and cultures young people have to prove themselves worthy of the title adult. The things they have to go through are very severe and sometimes impossible to complete. It is not necessary to go through torturing things to prove our maturity! Maturity lies in our actions, feelings, and knowledge. If we have the knowledge, we can complete anything. In my community knowledge should be tested rather than skill. It will not matter in the end if I could play a sport well or sing well or even speak well in front of people. What matters is am I equipped to face adult decisions and come out with the right answer!

           

My community should help all of its residents no matter what age. After all we don't know at what age we can be called an adult. Not only my community, but all surrounding ones as well. My community and also the ones nearby need to join to help upcoming adults and also those we already call adults. These communities need to provide school students with decisions based on adult levels to see just how much we know. If the students are able to work the problems out and talk about them in an adult manner then that will enable further steps to be taken in proving adulthood. The teachers need to teach children about the real world and let them know that there is a whole different world beyond school friends and assigned work. Our town can provide counseling for the drinking parents and show them how their lives are not representing good, moral, healthy standards for their children.

           

The younger the children start learning about adult behavior the better off they will be further down the road. If the parents can learn to truly be adults then the children will learn it from them. If a young person tries to say they are mature enough to go out into the real world they should be tested first. Communities should provide a written test for young people during their teenage years because this is when most young people think they know what being an adult is about.

           

This test will determine their level of knowledge about an adult situation. If the instructor giving the test feels like the student needs more improvement, then notes and suggestions need to be given to the parents and the teacher and student can work out problem areas. After the young people see the seriousness of the challenge, then they can learn how to handle the problem. These tests won't be easy. That is why it is important that the child be prepared. The years between 17 and 21 need to be taken very seriously in a young person's life. They need to be watched and taught more than ever before. They need to be taught by friends, family, teachers and anyone else willing to help. I wish that I could have been taught more about future decisions I will have to face after school.

           

Maybe there is no real way of separating children from teenagers or teens from adults in our world today. Age does not define the true maturity of a person, we only have a line drawn where society has drawn it. We may look at someone and say they are immature or they are very smart and have everything going for them. Even if we could put a real definition on maturity or adulthood is it really defined? No one person has the right answer! As for me, when I feel I am equipped to face life's decisions head on and come out a winner in the end, that is the real definition of adult.

 

Question

 

1.)  Young people are being less than they can be instead of gaining their full potential and being all they can be

 

2.) The effects of artificially separating children from a knowledge of birth, love, and death

 

3.) Yes, because now days everyone does pretty much what they want without anyone's input; culture is the way you are raised and taught, these control your actions

 

4.) An integration of the primitive and civilized

 

5.) Yes, because the young people of today are not cared for by their parents and they rebel because of this

 

6.) Drugs were found in a student's truck; a girl came back from lunch drunk; a drug deal took place

 

7.) I think teens should show that they aren't bad by doing something good that the people that look down on them will see; it is sad that people automatically think bad of them but, it won't change if the person doesn't try

 

8.) No, we need to have time with friends between classes; no, I like to be with people at school, you gain life long friends here  

 

9.) Yes, kids need to be leaders and stay off the streets

 

10.) I agree, we need to go back to the way we were before with no drugs, violence, rape, hate, etc.... it is hard for teens today because society makes us think we have to be a certain way and do a certain thing to fit in