Reflection 7

How do we view the way our culture performs? Is it right for parents to allow their children to go through a series of pain and suffering to teach them how to be civilized adults? Is how we see their rites of passage wrong? Reading these articles has really opened my eyes to see cultures and their differences and learning how to accept them. Rites of passage in my opinion, deal with transforming or the process from one stage in life to the next. In the article Mt. Kenya it clearly discusses how that particular tribe would allow their children to go through a rigorous process of purification and cleansing. The processes consist of many ceremonial performances of dancing, singing and drawing out evil spirit. I personally think this process is something that is well thought out and is not a fly by night deal. There are many things these children must go through in order to be accepted within their community and do we disagree because we do not understand why they do this. Then there is the actual performance of the purification. I would not allow my daughter at that age to actually go through such a process as that. For one, it is very unsafe to have a vital part of the vagina cut without any real medical attention. What parent in their right mind would want their child especially their daughter to go through something like that.
Then there is the article discussing the mythological aspect of how a certain culture allow their child to live in a forest or attend a school that teaches them certain rules and if they were not obedient to what was being taught they all of a sudden died. As a parent I really look at how we value our children and what we really believe what’s best for them as a whole. Certain cultures believe in raising their children in different ways which is something we cannot judge because we have not been accepted into that particular society. Is our way of raising a child the right way? Or allowing them to go through a painful process is the best way to adulthood? In closing rites of passages has a lot to do with teaching and being able to be effective in a student’s life. Rites of passage to me, is something that must start with an individual. An educator must be able to step out of the old mindset and began to change their thinking and ways of performance. Meaning going through the process of understanding differences and accepting people for who they are regardless of how strange we think they are.