Comments on: Rites of Passage

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 12:36:09 +0000

I subscribe fully to your ideas! We have lost this culture of rite of passage and initiation in the west and need to reclaim it! I also agree that the place to do it is in the schooling system!
A colleague and I have developed a year long program that is taught at year 9 level (14/15 years old) here in Australia. We will also be training schools in the US in 2009. The program is called The Rite Journey (www.theritejourney.com.au) and uses the hero’s journey steps to celebrate this transition point in a young person’s life. The schools running the program are noticing the powerful effect it has on individuals, families and even school culture.
I honestly believe it is the way forward! And indeed…every child has a right to their culture providing them with this process.
Please check out our website for more information if you are interested! And feel free to contact us if there is some interest in your country!

By: Jha

Jha — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:10:50 +0000

I always figured National Service would have made a neat rite of passage, if done correctly. Unfortunately we have issues with the people in authourity, so that’s problematic. It sounds like such a great idea – get out, meet new people, get some exercise, do shit besides sit at home. But parents will find their way to slither their kids out of NS, and I’ve had young friends who really wanted to go for it, only to have their parents postpone it for “further education”.

By: Lynette

Lynette — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 05:21:32 +0000

Hi! The link on facebook caught my attention

The Rite of Passage that you are proposing may be a dream-come-true for many students, especially those who don’t believe in the need to achieve as many A’s as possibles in exams, but considering the bureaucracy involved in such matters, it will not be easy to do something like that in government schools. Independent and private schools, more likely (trust me, I once planned to have a program like that for research purposes).

Then also, we will have to challenge the society’s traditional opinion of the education system (not a very easy matter to go against parents and teachers). How would they see the Rite of Passage to be? The most optimistic assumption would be they would herald it as a fresh change and accept that it would contribute to the students’ holistic growth. Still, I bet the majority would see it as an excuse to party. Not just parents or teachers, I suppose there are also other students out there who would not be supportive of such things, thinking it to be a waste of time.

After all, Malaysian culture is quite bound by traditional thinking to a certain degree.

Might it be better if the Rite of Passage thing was continuous and consistent throughout the years of formal schooling instead of just an individual event after SPM or STPM? I think before we start proposing having a Rite of Passage, we have to deal with society’s perception first. Which is obviously not going to be easy to do, but its not impossible.

Just my two cents’ worth