Coming of age - Unit 5

C1 Advanced · Gapped Text · Complete Advanced Workbook, Cambridge University Press

You are going to read a magazine article about how the transition to adulthood is marked in different cultures. Six paragraphs have been removed from the article. Choose from the paragraphs A-G the one which fits each gap (1–6). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.

Coming of age

In addition to learning such practical domestic skills, the need to negotiate with others, reach agreement and manage conflict is a vital part of growing up. Many experience this as a key part of the messy process, requiring hard work and learning from one’s mistakes, but resulting in maturity.

Although leaving the family home like this is still an important rite of passage for many, celebrating it might stigmatise the many people who, for various reasons, have to move back in with their parents for a time after years of independence.

This was certainly the experience of 18-year-old Shannon from Manchester, who has been a carer for her mother, Bridget, since she was just 10. ‘My 18th birthday last month was a little strange because I’d been functioning as an adult for years,’ she explained.

Masai boys in Africa, for example, had to kill a male lion with just a spear. Similarly, boys of the Assyrian empire (1900–1500 BC) had to undergo 15 years’ hard training between the ages of five and 20 to be considered a man.

20-year-old Teresa from Texas, for instance, celebrated her ‘quinceañera’ at the age of 15 (quinceañera literally translates as ‘the girl who is 15’), but it was not until she left home to go to college when she was 19 that she actually made the transition to adulthood.

This wide variety of paths to adult life has been explored through numerous films and books, showing how an individual’s personality and circumstances lead to a range of experiences of what coming of age means.

This varied according to location. For 21-year-old Londoner Todd, it wasn’t so much how he got around that mattered, but getting a place of his own. Due to the high cost of housing, for Todd – as for most other young people – this meant sharing a flat.

Fascinating though this is, in this article I want to reflect on what it means to come of age in an industrialised society in the 21st century by sharing the experience of young people I’ve spoken to. One thing I discovered was that even those who went through a coming-of-age ceremony rarely felt more grown up simply as a result of the event.

Conversely, other young people consider themselves adults long before any celebration at the end of childhood. The reality of the modern world is that lots of children are deprived of a proper childhood due to circumstances beyond their control. The lack of an extended family to act as a support network can mean that adult responsibilities fall on young shoulders.

Another common theme among the young people I spoke to was that it wasn’t the day they turned 18 or 21 that made them an adult, but rather a major life event such as passing their driving test. 19-year-old Ben explained that in his village, children take the bus or get driven by their parents, whereas adults drive themselves.

Moving out of home to live with other young people or into university accommodation was the definition of coming of age for many of those I spoke to. This of course didn’t happen overnight but was a process of growing up over months or even years. Learning to cook, pay bills and budget was a learning curve that turned them from carefree teenagers to responsible adults.

The fact that this amount of effort is involved is probably why most people said that, as much as they enjoyed parties and ceremonies to celebrate coming of age, they didn’t really represent their personal transition to adulthood. The consensus was, moreover, that since everyone is unique, each person’s journey towards being an adult will also be slightly different from anyone else’s.

What my conversations with these young people has highlighted is the disconnect between formal coming of age rituals and the lived experience of those participating in them, at least in modern, industrialised societies. In the future, perhaps we should focus less on formal ceremonies on fixed days and more on celebrating the achievements of young people as and when they occur.

What does it mean to ‘come of age’? In legal or official terms, it means to reach the legal age of adulthood in the country where you live. However, different cultures around the world have always celebrated the transition from childhood to adulthood with important ceremonies and events which don’t necessarily coincide with the individual becoming a legal adult. In the past, rites of passage could be challenging, painful or even dangerous. ___ Fascinating though this is, in this article I want to reflect on what it means to come of age in an industrialised society in the 21st century by sharing the experience of young people I’ve spoken to. One thing I discovered was that even those who went through a coming-of-age ceremony rarely felt more grown up simply as a result of the event. ___ Conversely, other young people consider themselves adults long before any celebration at the end of childhood. The reality of the modern world is that lots of children are deprived of a proper childhood due to circumstances beyond their control. The lack of an extended family to act as a support network can mean that adult responsibilities fall on young shoulders. ___ Another common theme among the young people I spoke to was that it wasn’t the day they turned 18 or 21 that made them an adult, but rather a major life event such as passing their driving test. 19-year-old Ben explained that in his village, children take the bus or get driven by their parents, whereas adults drive themselves. ___ Moving out of home to live with other young people or into university accommodation was the definition of coming of age for many of those I spoke to. This of course didn’t happen overnight but was a process of growing up over months or even years. Learning to cook, pay bills and budget was a learning curve that turned them from carefree teenagers to responsible adults. ___ The fact that this amount of effort is involved is probably why most people said that, as much as they enjoyed parties and ceremonies to celebrate coming of age, they didn’t really represent their personal transition to adulthood. The consensus was, moreover, that since everyone is unique, each person’s journey towards being an adult will also be slightly different from anyone else’s. ___ What my conversations with these young people has highlighted is the disconnect between formal coming of age rituals and the lived experience of those participating in them, at least in modern, industrialised societies. In the future, perhaps we should focus less on formal ceremonies on fixed days and more on celebrating the achievements of young people as and when they occur.

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