Are teens in societies with initiation rites rebellious?
rites of passage are definitely a help in the teen years. They formally acknowledge to the teen that he is now accepted as a jr. member of the adult society and it helps the adults to see him or her that way, too. The Jewish bar and bas mitzvahs are very good examples of this, for the kids have to study hard and prove themselves worthy of the rite. It is not an automatic thing. That being said, there is a physiological fact that also needs to be dealt with: the brains of teenagers are changing. Neuron connections are being broken and new ones made. Or, as my brother puts it, they are being ‘re-wired.’ No rite of passage is going to help with that process! The brain is not finished and the associated glands not fully mature until sometime between 18 and 25. And THAT being said, in any society where the teenager not only goes through a rite of passage but is then expected to pick up some adult responsibilities along with education, there will be extremely little teen rebellion. The kids
“Wherever the adolescent initiation rite is found and whatever specific function it performs, it is the older generation that is in control of the ritual. The payoff for the young person is that, at the completion of the ceremony, the initiate is accorded full status as an adult. This is possible because adolescent initiation rituals tend to be found in small, stable, homogeneous societies. It is in societies of this sort that the adults have knowledge of moral dictates, community traditions, rituals, practical knowledge, and so on. Where a society is large, complex, heterogeneous, and rapidly changing, the knowledge residing in the older generation is less likely to be relevant to the younger person. Indeed, in such societies, adolescents may be left on their own to construct their own adulthoods, including what they will be, what they will believe, how they will behave, where and with whom they will live, what moral standards they will follow, and so on.”
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