An Introduction to "Becoming an Adult"
As students end high school and head out into the world, they begin to enter the final stage of developing independence. Parents are no longer around to guide their teenager through tough life decisions and teenagers must start to take responsibility for their own life. As teens mature, different life lessons and experiences from childhood help shape their outlook on life, which this chapter explores in the book excerpt By the Time You Read this I’ll be Dead. Although the story has a vague ending, we wanted to show how past events mold teenagers into adults. The next piece, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?,” exemplifies how the transition from youth to adulthood can be quite awkward and warns teens about how misleading and sinister the adult world can be. By becoming aware of existing evil, students can take this idea to explore how media plays a part in the deceptiveness of the world and shapes a teen’s worldview. “Once In A While A Protest Poem” is a poem that goes along with students developing a unique perspective and talks about how apathetic western society acts toward the poverty stricken nations across the world. “Barn Burning” shows teenagers that even adults are wrong, and to not be afraid to question authority figures. Finally, the last step of students becoming fully independent is when they physically go out into the world and discover how they can contribute to society, which is shown in “Step Into Your Place.” Our whole goal for this chapter is to highlight the different elements of maturity as students become adults. CJF
Formatting by: RLS