A Modern Rite of Passage for American Adolescents

According to the Encarta World English Dictionary (North American edition), a rite of passage is (2009) "an event or act that marks a significant transition in a human life" or "a ceremony that marks somebody's passage from one stage of life to another." Many rites of passage are commonplace in our society and universally accepted, such as bar mitzvahs, quinceneras, proms, and school graduations. Even so, American society lacks a clear defined event that marks our adolescent's shift to adulthood. "The rite of passage historically has been an important cultural and individual developmental milestone, and is by and large absent in contemporary culture" (Blumenkrantz & Gavazzi, 2005). Establishing a modern rite of passage for American adolescence could help clear some of the identity confusion outlined in classic development theories such as Erikson's and Piaget's.

American society is extremely connected and segregated at the same time. A different state can seem like a totally different country to an adolescent who's never been far from home, but it's quite easy to talk in real time to someone 4000 miles away. I tend to think that our rapid advancements in communication, while extremely beneficial, have caused our youth to never have to seek independence from their childhood support systems and therefore, never truly reach full adulthood. I believe the best way to initiate adolescents into adult life is through full immersion, kind of like a "cold turkey" method. My personal observations of family and friends have shown that teenagers that are given more independence tend to make better decisions when entering adult life. I support an American rite of passage involving full immersion of the youth into adult life rapidly. Fully immersing America's youth in adult life without any usual support means will force the adolescent to make responsible decisions, and if not they will have to pay the consequences of their bad decisions. Of course, the adolescent would still be able to maintain communication with their family and friends, avoiding this would be almost impossible, but interaction during this period should be minimal to encourage the youth to act independently and responsibly. I like the idea of the Amish Rumspringa, in which the 16 year old Amish adolescent is allowed to explore contemporary society before deciding whether or not to join the Amish church (Edwards, 2002). Joining the Amish church is a lifelong decision, and the purpose of Rumspringa is to help the adolescent sort through any confusion he or she may have about Amish life compared to the outside world. The Amish community is a very strict, close-knit, primitive type culture (when compared to industrialized cultures) that holds their religion of upmost importance. The decision by an Amish adolescent not to join the Amish church will inevitably lead to the adolescent being "shunned" by all their family members and friends, and not being allowed to return to their home (Edwards, 2002). Not adhering to the Amish guidelines and rules in adulthood therefore, results in consequences that may be more undesirable than enduring the laborious Amish lifestyle. While one would think that most Amish teens would leave the strict Amish community, an amazing 85-90% return after Rumspringa and join the Amish church (Young Center, 2008). While following such a rigid rite in modern American society is truly not feasible, I think that the Amish at least have the right idea.

I do not believe that there necessarily needs to be any differences in regard to gender concerning this rite of passage. In fact, establishing gender differences in a rite of passage for a contemporary American adolescent would almost be an insult to the advancements American society has made in gender equality. While some gender bias still exists in our society, adult life for men and women is largely the same. The most prominent difference to me is that men tend to earn higher incomes than women even with the same amount of education, but I don't believe this difference is large enough to merit any significant differences in lifestyle. Most of the notable differences in development that occur between men and women are over by early adolescence, I would say by the time the male reaches spermarche and the female menarche. By the time this modern rite of passage would be initiated, at around 18 years old, these great developmental differences have already been completed and the healthy adolescent would have already learned coping mechanisms to deal with these differences. These coping skills would be largely personal anyway, so incorporating any differences for genders would be unnecessary in my opinion.

The first step in this modern rite of passage is separation of the adolescent from all their current support systems, including family, friends, work, school, and everything else. I believe rapidly removing all the adolescent's support will bring them into the reality of adult life in a more accurate and timely manner. I have family members who never left their parent's home and none of them have desirable lifestyles now; in fact, most of them still live with their parents, work at low-wage jobs, and hold little assets. Ideally the adolescent would be sent to a different city or town (something comparable to their origins) to live and seek employment. The adolescent will have to make new friends and establish themselves in a place totally outside of their comfort zone. Obviously some initial financial help will be necessary for things such as the first few months rent and utilities payments, groceries, and other household items. My rite of passage places the responsibility for this financial help on the adolescent's parents. I believe that parents should save for this event in the same way they save for their children's college education. If it were to become a universally accepted tradition, I am sure financial institutions would begin to offer products solely for this purpose, just as they do college education accounts. I do not believe that the government should have any responsibility for paying for this event, but this will present a problem for lower-income families or families with large numbers of children, so I'm sure some government intervention will eventually take place to make things more equal.

The adolescent should leave the origin home with some goals already planned out. They should seek help from family and older friends before beginning the rite to prepare them, but after the rite has begun all this help should cease. Communication with anyone from the adolescent's life before beginning the rite should be minimal and for emergencies only. The adolescent should be given the resources to live for enough time to find employment. The adolescent would ideally be given residence in a place they could afford on their own on a salary average for their age. Obviously this residence will be a huge down-grade for many adolescents, but I believe this will make them appreciate the better conditions their parents have provided for them. The adolescent should be allowed to seek employment in any field they wish and engage in any activities he or she wishes, with no risk of consequence upon returning home if the parents or community disapproves. After securing stable employment (or unstable in the case of some free-lance agents, artists, writers, etc.), the adolescent's main focus should be to establish positive working relationships with new friends and coworkers, which is essential for a healthy adult life. This step of the rite will be on-going not only during the rite but afterwards as the adolescent returns home, as they will develop new social skills as well as hone the skills they already had. The adolescent will be forced to actively seek out friends in their new environment and therefore, use social abilities they may have not had to use before, since most of their friends from their homes would have been met through family, mutual friends, and school settings, which are all absent during the rite.

The duration of the rite should be long enough to sufficiently expose the adolescent to all aspects of living alone in an adult world. Some adolescent's will surely choose not to return to their hometowns, and that is acceptable in my opinion. I believe that the absence from home will make the adolescent appreciate what they had more, because they will realize how hard earning a living is in modern society. I would suggest a period of at least 1-2 years, followed by reintegration back into the original home and the continuing of the adolescents' educational aspirations or the beginning of a career. The time spent employed during the rite will make good experience for those not wishing to go to college, and it will also provide those who do wish to attend college a better idea of their ideal major and career goals. The adolescent should be encouraged to exercise their independence after their return home. The adolescent should be treated as an adult upon arriving home, and although should be given help from the parents to get back on their feet if necessary, should be expected to establish themselves in their own residence and secure employment in a reasonable amount of time. If the adolescent chooses to pursue higher education I believe the parents should assist if necessary, but hopefully, the time spent on their own will encourage the adolescent to assume responsibility for their own needs and make efforts to finance their own education. The ultimate goal of the rite is to establish the adolescent as an independent, healthy, positive, contributing member of society with well-developed morals, values, and ethics.

Obviously this rite of passage will not go perfectly for all adolescents, and some will fall victim to crime, drugs, and violence during this period. Hopefully, the desire to complete the rite positively and receive their family's approval will motivate the adolescent to avoid making decisions that lead to these issues, but some will not. Not giving the adolescent unlimited financial assistance during this time as some parents do while their children are in college will help to decrease this problem some. I believe this is why most substance abuse begins in the teenage years, because the money being spent on the drugs is not being earned by the teen in many cases. I believe that many of the problems teenagers face are being enabled by their parents due to denial. Completely separating the adolescent from the parents will help alleviate this problem.

The rite of passage making the transition from adolescence to adulthood has been a long-standing tradition among many cultures but is largely lost in modern American society. While some social milestones exist such as prom, graduation, bar mitzvahs (Judaism), and others, a universally accepted rite of passage for the American adolescent is unknown. I believe that fully immersing the adolescent into adult life at around 18 years of age will give the teen the coping skills necessary to make it in today's chaotic world. Total separation from previous support means is crucial to the success of the rite, as it will help the adolescent proactively form new relationships, a necessary skill in today's society. This rite will also expose the adolescent to the darker side of adulthood without shading their eyes, so to speak, and they will be made responsible for the social decisions they make with no excuses accepted. I believe that the adolescent will return home after the rite more appreciative and open-minded, on the right path to becoming a healthy, happy adult.

References

Blumenkrantz, D.G. & Gavazzi, S.M. (2005). Guiding transitional events for children and adolescents through a modern day rite of passage. The Journal of Primary Prevention, 13(3), 199-212. doi: 10.1007/BF01352926.

Edwards, B. (2002). Amish teens tested in devil's playground: Documentary reveals youths' experiments with 'English' life. National Public Radio (NPR). Retrieved April 4, 2009, from http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/2002/may/amish .

Rite of passage. (2009). In Encarta World English Dictionary online (North American ed.). Retrieved April 4, 2009, from http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861705590.

The Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College. (2008). Population trends 1992-1998: Sixteen-year highlights. Amish Studies. Retrieved April 4, 2009, from http://www2.etown.edu/amishstudies/Population_Trends_1992_2008.asp.