Paoli High School

Paoli, Oklahoma
Teacher: Melinda Alfred

 

 

The Time Is Now

A Rite of Passage For American Youth

by Jymie Sweetman

12th grade

 

 

 

A rite of passage is necessary. We need to make it clear at what age or at what time we children become adults.  It’s hard enough for us to know and fully understand the way this world works without having all the confusion over whether or not we are to be considered adults.  We are made to act as if we are adults by acquiring jobs and paying bills, yet we cannot even take tylenol at school without parental permission. It seems absurd to me that this is senseless.  Communities initiating a rite of passage would set the standard and make it clear to everyone that each of us had reaches adulthood and deserves to be treated accordingly.

 

The elders in our communities need to take a stand and organize a rite of passage for all young people. It is our duty as adolescents to point this out to the elders. We need to explain how confusing this can be for us. They are not our age, nor do they understand what we face, therefore we must show them. As teenagers we have many challenges to face. Adulthood is one of these challenges. It is a hurdle we must jump in the race known as life.  However, it appears that every time a teenager starts to jump the hurdle, it is pulled from beneath him and moved a little farther away. Not only does this hamper his advancement, but it causes him to fall. We pass test after test, jump hurdle after hurdle, yet we are still not allowed to make that ever-important leap into adulthood. We are not considered adults unless we commit some crime, then we are tried as adults. How does this make sense? How can this be justified?  How can it be fixed? It cannot with out a rite of passage.

 

There are many arguments against the communities initiating a rite of passage for us.  One opposition is that people reach adulthood at different ages, so how is it fair to attach an age to this occasion? The answer to this is simple. Everyone is allowed to drive at one specific age. People receive the right to vote and to buy alcohol and tobacco at a specified age.  When a person is 18, he is legally are able to be drafted into the armed forces. How is this, that you can go fight for our country, possible die doing it, yet you still cannot decide rather or not our body can handle a Tylenol? So, I say, if we can do these things, all of which could possibly affect our lives in a major way, at a specific age, then we should be considered an adult at a certain age as well. Another argument is that it should not be up to others to decide if your kid is an adult or not. It is not their responsibility to do so.  I will ask another question, if it is not their responsibility, whose  is it? For

no one can organize this alone.

 

This needs to be put into action soon. Kids, now more than ever, are behaving terribly and thinking that because they are young they will not be made to answer for it. We need guidance. We need trust. We need to know that the elders in the community respect us as young adults, and not ignorant children. With adulthood comes responsibility, the two go hand in hand. However, people have difficulty giving responsibilities to us, they do not trust us enough. This has to stop. Elders must put their faith in us. They must give us a chance to prove that we are ready.

 

I also realize that more and more teenagers are having to get jobs and make their own way in this world, with little or no help from their parents. If they are responsible enough to hold down jobs and such they should be treated with respect, as would any other working adult. Let me point out that I am allowed to have an abortion with out my parents being notified, yet I am unable to leave school if I am sick, with out first receiving permission from my mother.  This is absurd! The line between adulthood and adolescents is very, very blurry. It’s time to make this a straight, clear line.  It’s time for everyone in the communities to take a stand for our young ‘adults’ and get everyone to notice all they put into our neighborhoods.  They are deserving of praise and recognition as adults. It’s a perilous journey to get there and once they have arrived they should be greeted with open arms.  It seems as though a rite of passage is not only necessary and just, but imperative. We young adults need a line drawn for us. This is an important issue our communities need to address and integrate  into our lives. 

 

Questions

 

Q1: Mead states that young people are becoming “less than they can be” whish is like the army’s “be all you can be” logo.

 

Q2: I feel that all of these things are still issues today.

 

Q3: I agree with Ms. Mead. I feel that you create your surroundings, therefore your design your own culture. Culture is the act of developing intellectual and moral faculties.

 

Q4: None of the above.

 

Q5: I feel that boundaries and structure are necessary to some extent. I feel that they teach responsibility and help parents realize what is really going on in their child’s life.

 

Q6: I have seen/heard people make drug deals at school. I have also personally had someone ask me if I want to smoke a joint with them. I have fought with my younger brother over his possible drug an alcohol use.

 

Q7: I feel that everyone needs to stop channeling their negative energy towards racism as well as stop with the discrimination factors.

 

Q8: I would hate just going to classes and learning. I would love to be home schooled, but I couldn’t handle attending a private school.

 

Q9: I don’t agree with either of these statements.

 

Q10: I agree. I think we all need someone that we can look up to and have a good relationship with. Having an older mentor is key in establishing morals and values in children.