Rites of Passage Questions & Answers
Why am I making the film?
I want to do my part for happier children and stronger families before I leave this life.
I was born to make this film… more than Hoop Dreams, more than a film about my own family, more than any of my previous work.
It’s easy to say that I myself was a troubled teen, unconsciously desperate for male mentors and for initiation, searching for answers in drugs and alcohol and reckless behavior. It’s certainly all true. But it’s just as true to say that I’m a man who never has fathered children so I want to do my part for happier children and stronger families before I leave this life. I want to lay down the fathering energy I carry in a good way where it can be of good use.
I am making this film to inform parents, teachers, coaches, counselors, politicians, lay people -- about rites of passage (ROP) programs and the meaningful and positive impact they have on young people, their families, and their communities. I hope people will use my film to help them differentiate healthy rites of passage programs from neutral or unproductive ones. My goal is not to please experts or influence anthropologists or sociologists, it's to help schools, Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCAs, 4H, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Outward Bound, etc. to better serve their clients and to clarify the importance of positive rites of passage and mentorship programs in the everyday lives of youth everywhere.
What is initiation?
We use the terms "initiation" and "rites of passage" interchangeably.
"A modern day rite of passage is achieved when parents and the community create and participate in experiences that are perceived to be transformative by youth and, in fact, offer them increased status within the community and facilitate their healthy transition through adolescence. Equally important, the celebration of a rite of passage is renewing for the entire community. A youth’s public expression of and commitment to a community’s values and beliefs reinforces expectations for behaviors for the entire community. A child’s coming of age presents an opportunity for the whole community to examine, adapt and re-commit themselves to their social and cultural heritage."
- David Blumenkrantz, Ph.D.
We feel strongly that rites of passage and mentorship are two halves of one whole – both essential to the healthy development of youth, and, by extension, to the well being of families and communities.
Dr. Blumenkrantz has also written a very helpful list establishing "20 Elements in an Architectural Structure for Youth & Community Development through Rites of Passage."
His colleague Bret Stephenson has written a very helpful overview article on ROP for lay people.
What are healthy rites of passage?
Healthy rites of passage are different from events we commonly call rites of passage that carry no transformational impact (neutral events).
Examples of neutral events:
- Voting for the first time
- Getting a Driver’s License
- Turning 18 or 21
- Joining the Military
- Taking that first drink
- Getting that first job or paycheck
- Having sex for the first time
- Getting tattoos or piercings
Healthy rites of passage are different from unhealthy ones like:
- Gang-banging
- Fraternity hazing
- Bullying
- Speed drinking and over-drinking
- Hurting or even killing someone
- Committing a first crime
- Street drag racing
Why does initiation and mentoring work?
Rites of passage and mentorship provide youth with enduring human attachments and moral and spiritual meaning to guide their lives.
- A 2003 federal government study by the Commission on Children at Risk learned that youth are "Hardwired to Connect." "Meeting children's needs for enduring attachments and for moral and spiritual meaning is the best way to ensure their healthy development."
- Rites of Passage and Mentorship share similar if not identical objectives. The Search Institute has identified 40 developmental assets that an adolescent requires in order to fully accomplish the transition to young adulthood.
- Though scientific studies substantiating the benefits of rites of passage for youth are only now coming in, according to anthropologists Arnold Van Gennep and Margaret Meade, the practice of initiation for adolescents has continued in most if not all cultures on the planet for over 40,000 years.
You can read a wonderful recent study proving the effectiveness of mentoring on youth outcomes here.
Take action:
- Sign up on our website.
- Receive a free copy of the film and the curriculum.
- Screen it for your school, community group, youth development center, or other and facilitate a discussion.
- Send us a project endorsement letter from your organization.
- Partner with us to sign up other organizations.
- Donate funds or help us raise funds.
Help us reach our fundraising goal!
We’re raising $20,000 by the end of this year to fund the completion and release of a six-minute film that will be given away with toolkits designed for different end users:
- Colleges and Universities
- High schools
- Youth development agencies
- Community groups
- Psychologists, Therapists, Counselors…
- Parents
We're also partnering with parents and other community stakeholders to utilize public screenings as opportunities to better access and redesign already existing community ROP and mentorship programs or to start new ones from the ground up.
Want to learn more? Contact our Community Partners Director: Ishtar@warriorfilms.org