The dominant culture of the United States does not have any one, universal, defining rite of passage for its adolescents....or does it?? Should we have one or is it not necessary?
138935
I think just even trying to define a dominant culture in the US would be difficult.  We are a huge melting pot, filled with countless cultures and backgrounds, all with many defining "rituals" of their own.\n\nThere seems to be quite a few rites of passage already, though....like "sweet 16" parties, graduation parties, baptisms, bar mitzvahs, and simply making it through the teenage years intact ;)
228616
I've been here since the beginning. Hasn't it always been part of Society and Culture?\n\nI could be mistaken, but maybe I'm not.\n\nYou should also pick your battles.
188098
Wow, the city I grew up in was a melting-pot of cultures, so it sets me back to think your community offers none. They are too young to go galavanting across the world with backpacks, staying in hostels and camping out, so perhaps bringing some of those experiences to them via internet is doable?...the discovery channel, national geographic, encarta?  Field trips to an exploratorium, museum, landmark or other point of interest?...What specifically about the self is acceptable might be guided by parental discussion. Maybe a theme park...a step up from the exhiliartion of the McDonald's playland...the carney circuit...extend and embrace the sensations the world has to offer oneself.
584586
Ideally yes, \nIdeally there should be lots of mandatory things...\n\nbut realistically there are many factors to consider, age of person, disability, actual time within the country.\n\nFor example would you require a mute to speak. Or teach english to a 89 year old. Should immgrants speak english at the 8th grade level. most american speak at this level.\n\nWill they speak the KINGS ENGLish, because you know in america, we speak a form of english. Will we from a new buracracy to purify the English/American Language.\n\n\nRealistically if i am a company or service, i would rather be effective and efficient by providing other languages than be xenophobic.\nFor example if sell medicine in other countries besides the US i would use the other languages on my labels...makes good business sense.\n\nWe provide benefits to many people that do not speak English because we are not monsters, if a child was dying you would save that life without asking if they spoke English....you wouldn't let a human life die because of it even you are not a monster.\n\nBesides, your question is full of anger and bias. What you fail to point out is that most of the quality universities int the Untied States require a foreign language.\n\nIn fact many school districts require foreign language to graduate. There is a definite value in multiculturalism.\n\nAs a college educated person you must see that...\n\n\n\n\nBy the way the US is planning to build a superhighway four football fields long from Canada to Mexico.\nThey plan to implement one currency to easy trade, \nand plan to make English, Spanish and French the official languages.....maybe not today or tomorrow  but soon....i am not making this up.
208734
In my view, as someone looking into the US-centric culture from the outside... I think a lot of it isn`t necessarily brain washing, but laziness. Yes - laziness.\nPeople don`t want to be troubled by other people - so make everyone be independent. People don`t want to have to put too much effort into raising their children - let`s push them to be independent before they hit their first birthday. \nAll of this breeds more selfishness, which in turn increases the push to make everyone independent.
676837
I was homeschooled through high school, am now in college (I think I'm the youngest in the whole campus!) and I think I'm plenty street smart.  I mean, I can protect myself and have my share of common sense.  Being homeschooled doesn't mean sheltered from the world.\nMy elder brother, a kindergarten drop-out, was pulled from mainstream school when his seatmate on the bus had a gun pointed at his head.  Granted, we grew up in what even the residents referred to as a ghetto, but still, the fact that me and my broher are both still alive and moral says something.\nYou'd be amazed at how many people have asked my mom to a) teach them how to homeschool or b) homeschool their kids.   A friend of mine was being sexually harrassed, reported it to the principal at her school, and was told to "deal with it".  Does that strike you as healthy?\nI believe that homeschooling is more of a protective than an academic measure, seeing as every homeschooling family I've met has chosen that path for moral or protective reasons first and educational reasons second.\n\nSocialization-- the #1 question.  I'm naturally shy in person (not in writing, as you can see!), and I'm quite certain that my shyness is not a by-product of homeschooling.  Neither of my brothers are one bit shy.  In fact, my kid brother doesn't know a stranger.   Extra curricular activities for all of us involve heavily social environments.  We all know how to protect ourselves should we be attacked, we all learn things the hard way, etc.  Though I'll admit to a certain degree of naivete in the past semester of college, by no means does this mean I learned everything out of a book.  \n\nExample:\nDiscussing Native American stereotypes in Poetry/Short Stories this April, I mentioned peyote beadwork, referring to it as "peyote".  My experience with the word "peyote" has always been limited to a group of Native American dancers, all of whom made their own costumes and beadwork.  Peyote, as far as I was concerned, was a style of beadwork, as opposed to applique or loom beading.  I was embarrassed to learn, in that very class, that peyote is a hallucinogen.  The memory still makes me feel naive and wet behind the ears, but I learned a valuable lesson: Open mouth insert foot; Remove foot, insert other foot.  Oh well.\n\nNot all of my education as come from the curricula my mom has pieced together, but I confess a lot of the things I learned comes  from books.  "The Blue Girl" by Charles DeLint, "The Moorchild" by Eloise McGraw, "Dreadnought!" and "Battlestations!" by Diane Carey, (Star Trek novels are my guilty pleasure) and numerous other novels, ranging from science fiction and fantasy to mysteries and romances.  \n\nSo, to conclude, homeschooling doesn't, by definition, mean sheltered from the world.  \nI think Bruce Tinsley said it best, though be worned that the following quote can be described as rude and unkind: "Contary to popular belief, homeschooled kids are not less socialized than other kids. They just have to use smaller words and shorter sentences."\n\nI never said I was a saint.
233717
What? This is a very weird question, but um... I think either a bow or a handshake is fine although, the handshake is more casual and commands less repect, which is appropriate for the US since we are governed by our people and not the President, and the bow is usually associated with royalty.
576451
Beccawho has made a lot of good points about the issue of being young in college, but I'd also like to raise the issue of the cultural differences of what your son would face in an American college.\n\nMy daughter started college a year early at 17 and that worked for her because she is very mature for her age and can also pass for being older. However, it is definitely not something that I'd recommend for just any young person - not because of the difficulty of the school work (I'm sure your son would do fine, academically), but because of the social "scene" on college campuses. Alcohol plays a large role in terms of how college kids socialize and since my daughter doesn't like to drink, she found it hard to meet friends. And friends are important when it comes to working on class projects together, walking home at night, going off-campus to buy supplies, helping you out when you're sick, etc. College life without a support system of friends can be rough.\n\nHave you also considered the whole issue of your son's adjustment to American culture? I've traveled to other countries and I know that America's youth culture is not something that is highly respected by foreigners, and I can't say that I blame them. American kids grow up very "fast," and when they are off on their own on college campuses, I'm not sure that environment is something you'd want your son exposed to at such a young age. And then on top of everything else, you've got all of our crazy notions about race.\n\nMy advice to you would be to keep your son in high school for the full amount of time, if possible. He obviously should have access to college level work, so if your high school does not offer enough AP classes (which count towards college credit if he passes the exams), then I would hope that they offer the option of dual enrollment with a nearby college (being both a high school student AND a college student). With dual enrollment, your son's college classes also count towards his high school diploma and are often paid for by the school district. \n\nBy remaining in high school, not only will your son get used to American culture, but his amazing grades will more likely pay off in fabulous scholarship opportunities that he couldn't get if he skips graduating from high school. This I know, because my daughter missed out on those opportunities. In this way, his hard work won't be a waste, because he will receive more recognition in the long run compared to being the odd young kid in college who is mostly ignored. Please know that scholarships and awards mean even more than "results" and great exam grades, because anyone can earn great grades, but fewer are recognized with awards. People who get awards tend to get noticed with even more awards at later stages in their life, such as applying for things like internships, grants, special programs, etc. \n\nIf your high school cannot offer college level classes for your son in the subjects where he is ready for them, then have your son take classes at your local community college. Not only can your son earn two years of college credit at a community college, but the social atmosphere at community colleges is not the same because the population tends to be a bit older and more mature. Community college students tend to go to their classes and then go home or to work. (Probably what you may be used to with African colleges.)\n\nFinal piece of advice: if you insist on pushing your son into college, at least find one with a large number of international students.
537226
A common, universal, language is necessary.\n\nEducators, regardless of tenure or degrees, are useless hulks of meat if they cannot communicate with their students.\n\nAt one time, it was necessary to learn Latin in order to understand science, because it was the only universal language throughout Western European Civilization. It was a pain in the butt, but it worked. And there were no complaints about it being cultural chauvinism, in spite of it being a dead language.\n\nDiversity is cool, but it ignores the fact that a universal language is more efficient. Does any teacher want to learn 5,486 languages and cultures in order to teach a class?\n\nIf I had to teach my children a second language to enhance their ability to survive and prosper in the modern world, it would be English. Once they knew that, the doors would be open to understanding a wealth of information about science, math, finance and culture.
644428
I am a youth counselor at a detention center for at risk youth and I see this alot. Now I am only 23 years old so I don't know how much I can influence the crowd here but here it goes. I think with the kids I deal with there are 2 main things that add to the equation. Parents and Pop Culture. With parenting I think people arent willing to put in the time and also agree with the fact that parents are trying to be friends. Also I don't know if there is any connection but I would say with the number of single parents increasing and the age at which people are impregnated. A irresponsible youth can't raise a responsible person. By the time the kids I work with get to be teenagers, the parent usually wants to make up for the teenage years that they themselves lost leaving a kid to fend for himself. As far as pop culture goes I just isn't popular to be nice anymore most music is about being depressed or being a gangster, alot of the movies my youth watch when not in program have to do with the same or with sexual acts. Well that's all on this matter for now any questions feel free to write.\n Timmy
226477
Wow.  And Californians wonder why the Heartland of American looks upon them as “the land of Fruit and Nuts.”\n\nThe problem is one of teaching tolerance, not acceptance of sexual activity.  This seems to be a “politically correct” version of good intentions gone wild.\n\nThose who would oppose this would not be the ones rewriting the texts.  Those promoting the concept will be.  This automatically adds a bias and the possible inclusion of ideas and concepts which are not historically correct, but lend credence to the importance of homosexuality.\n\nThe percentage of “gay and lesbian” citizens is determined by culture.  Some, like the ancient Greeks, promoted the concept.  Others, like the Mongols, seemed to have zero tolerance.  In current American (United States of) culture, there is currently no reliable figures on the percentage of “gay and lesbian” citizens, but it is probably low (just much more verbal).  Where will this end?\n\nDo we need to rewrite history to point out “left-handers”?  How about “blue-eyed, musically talented, French speaking females”?  The cultural problem is not recognition of a contribution, but a political battle between view-points.  Those with a moral objection will now only get more defensive and more militant about their personal point-of-view which might negate any good intentions of the legal act.\n\nIt will also promote more parents to yank their children out of public schools and place them into much less tolerant learning environments.  As for helping the students who may be of different orientation, there is no proof that this method will help any more than just teaching tolerance in general.  Every student has problems with self identity.  It is the age group’s major concern.  Why separate out another minority for special treatment?
39938
I'm going to venture a wild idea, that I hope people forgive me on, it is just an idea. I think we should either imitate what they do in Japan, Germany, or France.\n In every TIMSS study, Japan is constantly and consistently at the top. In everything, from math(the best tested nation in math in all of the developed world),science( I think they're number 2) and in reading( there in the top ten(I'm not sure about rank). We score 32, 33 in terms of ranks in all major areas.Japanese students are taught from the time they start school to be self-sufficient, and to be competitive. They study, study, and study some more. In order to move on to the next level like middle school and high school, they have to take a national exam! Students definitely want to do well!  Granted, they are the most stressed children in the world, but you can't argue with results. They have a 90% national graduation rate from high school. We have a 67% high school graduation rate. American students need to be taught that in life sometimes you have to be competitive to be the best, and that there is nothing wrong with doing well in school. Our culture of nerds and jocks, where the jocks are popular is not setting the right culture for us to be competitive in the long run.\n Also in Japan everyone wants to be the best so that they could attend the best universities. True,in the US we have the same culture(i.e. for Ivies), but it is so much more pronounced in Japan. \n   In short, Japan, Germany, and France have rigor that is lacking in some parts of our school system.\n "No Child Left Behind" is a step in the right direction, but we have a long way to go, to truly have a K-12 school system that is the best in the world. We are THE BEST in research and grad school.
485824
In the US no\ninsome other societies yes.\nyour "?" has flaws.
588317
I'm OK with it. Why shouldn't they have a shot at the American way of life just like my grandparents and great grandparents did? I think the whole argument of there's not enough room, etc. is just an excuse.
73721
well it is probably both. I to, had to do chores or i did not get to do anything!! Also, parents today dont have enough discipline, and they let there kids walk all over them. Which to me, is a crock of shit. I think that a teen needs boundaries, and there needs to be rules set. If a parent just gives in, then they need there ass kicked!! and people wonder what the world is coming to- today, teen have no respect, no morals, and are lazy as hell./
664267
Yeah, the biggest issue is how shocked and traumatized kids will get after school's out for good.  They won't get accepted to every college, they won't get every job they apply for, every loan, every house, every date... it's madness.\n\nBand-Aids on broken arms, yo.  Educators can't be parents, but they can certainly do more to compliment those values parents should be instilling in their children: hard work, honesty, perserverence, team work, etc.  It's a strong and moral system of values that needs to be taught, not ribbons for participation (especially when it's mandatory) and graduation ceremonies for every grade level.\n\nIt reflects America's zealous focus on matierialism that kids now need ribbons and ceremonies and can't be satisfied with virtues that are ends in and of themselves.
73639
You pretty much answered the question the way I would.  It would be great to break down the language barriers, so we would realize there are less differences between us and "everyone else" than we think.  But yes, I think there's the danger of becoming too similar.  Maybe not, though...every country still has different customs and "slang", so maybe the cultural uniqueness would prevail.