We have a generation of research documenting in endless detail the loss of sense of community and connectedness in schools and families, along with loss of core values like courage and caring. We have lost sanctioned, honored, and trustworthy ways for our youth to come of age—many drift into and through adolescence with no benchmarks beyond standardized tests. In an absence of the availability of real traditions, today many youths meet the needs for coming of age through alienation, gangs, helmet sports, drug use, and more.
“Coming of Age the Rite Way” is the contemporary rationale for the critical process of coming of age. In providing this powerful rationale, David Blumenkranz has filled in a giant hole in our contemporary vision of what an education must be. Blumenkranz details for us, in the richest detail and with an encyclopedic level of referencing, how by re-focusing on rites of passage, an endangered, 50,000 year-old human convention, we can reclaim caring communities and caring schools.
I treasure this book and it shall never leave my favored shelf on the bookcase: the ride goes from ancient times to the future, and across all continents as we witness rites of passage ceremonies and purposes. From this wide and colorful perspective, Blumenkranz shows us (as organizational, educational, and family leaders) how to “grow our own” rites of passages in schools and families, today.
I used “Coming of Age the Rite Way” as a blueprint for advancing “authentic initiation” at The Grauer School and, our public matriculation ceremony became vital, memorable, far sighted, and relevant—now matriculation into our high school is becoming a part of a larger whole, part of our seasons, rather than the isolated event it once was. I will use this book every year as we develop ceremonies that are true passages for teens—and as we recall stories that invite us to revisit the mysteries and wonder of life along with our teens. It is a treasure trove that contains enough resources for educational leaders to honor teen passages and to keep advancing initiation ceremonies of all kinds, long into the future.
Implementing the wisdom of this book into a school is like infusing it with its own traditions and purposes, and watching those purposes deepen. “Coming of Age the Rite Way” is a wonderment handbook. I hope every one takes it to heart. -- Stuart Grauer