Rite of passage is a tradition that has existed throughout human history and may have significant effects on the development of a stable adult personality. It’s a tradition that has been forgotten, left behind, a cost of the advent of technology, with the fast pace of existence, of endless distraction.
For many, show-and-tell in grade school, when children were able to choose something from their lives—a story, an object, a toy or a book—and share it with the class, was their first opportunity to state unequivocally “this is who I am.”
Programs like the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award help fill the gap. The program inspires young people to think about personal passion, being contributing members of society, and allows them to experience that they can actually effect meaningful change. The Edinburgh awards, in principle, tap into what is missing in Western culture: a rite of passage, coming of age.
As technology pervades every facet of life it becomes easier to get around. People don’t need to work as hard to get things done. In the bustle of daily grind, they may forget to challenge their children and, over time, children lose context. Mediocrity is celebrated because nobody wishes to leave anybody out. Those who work hard get rewarded right alongside those who choose not to work hard. Everyone gets an award, no one is left out.
The dynamics of healthy competition and striving to achieve meaningful results are important to human development and to the shift from youth to adulthood. The element of competitive spirit and the notion of working hard to an end goal is important in the development of will to succeed, drive to accomplish, independence and effective decision-making skills.
The side effects of losing the concept of rite of passage are many: lack of dedication and stick-to-it-iveness, lack of commitment, lack of personal pride, unreasonable fears, fear of choice, fear of failure. The list is extensive.
Many youth today, when high school is finished and they face the big wide world, freeze in the face of big decisions. When asked what their gift is, some don’t have an answer. They’re not sure. People need to teach their children how to engage the world on their own terms, and to be in touch with what their personal passions are, with what drives them.
The last legitimate rite of passage in Western culture was more or less unspoken: people worked hard, provided for themselves or, when the time came, for their families. Rite of passage is a celebration of the transition from child to adult, establishing a landmark to denote “You have accomplished something. You have succeeded and now you have arrived.”
Everyone needs to celebrate that.
