Rites of Passage and Coming of Age

     At one point or another it is inevitable for a person to go from being a child to an adult. Not only biologically, but also mentally and spiritually. This recognition of going from a child to an adult is a “coming of age”. For different cultures around the world people have quite different ways that people come of age and are considered adults. Coming of age can be done religiously based, through rite of passage and done through rituals. Rituals are, “Repetitive social practices, many of which have nothing to do with religion...composed of a sequence of symbolic activities, set off from social routines of everyday life” (Schultz 72-73).

     For example, in the United States it is common for a 16 year-old to have a birthday celebration of greater scale than normal, their Sweet Sixteen. At this age, the person coming of age can get their license. And when a person turns eighteen, they are considered an adult. At this age they can buy lottery, get married, and vote. Rites of passage in our culture overlap some of the coming of age (marriage, and voting), but also employment and entry into the professional world.

     In other cultures different rituals and rites of passage are common. In Japan their rite of passage happens at age 20, when a person reaches this age they are finally allowed to vote, drink, and smoke. In Latin American and Spanish cultures children have Quinceaneras to celebrate their fifteenth birthday.

     Religion also plays a part on coming of age. In the Jewish religion, the sons have a Bar Mitzva. Once they have completed all the necessary steps, the boy is considered a man in his family and religion. Same goes for the girls of the Jewish religion, except the girls have a Bat Mitzva to show the same growth to be recognized as an adult now. In the Catholic religion it is common for the child to have a First Communion, and this signifies the growth in the religion into adulthood.

     While coming of age, and rite of passages are incredibly varied and have different qualifications in cultures around the world, they all have the similarity that the person going through it transforms through the process. No matter what rite of passage they enter, or coming of age event they go through, they will be considered an adult by the end.