Lesson 25: What is Adulthood?
Attention
That is right! There is no "manual" for adulthood...just the lessons we learned, like it or not, from our families!
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:
- Identify role transitions that mark entry into adulthood
Teaching
“Maturity is when your world opens up and you realize that you are not the center of it.” -M.J. Croan
So what does it mean to be "mature", to be an "adult"?
Being an "adult" means that we are taking on a new job title, and that new job title has a new job description. So, when we
"act like an adult" or "act like a child" we can know the difference.
What would you write up as a job description for an adult? How does your own behavior match up?
Youth
There also appears to be an emerging stage in the lifespan..."emerging adulthood" where individuals, aged late teens to mid-late 20s, take on some of the roles of adults, but are still adolescents in many ways.
Rites of Passage
"Rites of Passage" is a phrase from Anthropology that signifies an event marking the transition from one phase of life to another. What are some "rites of passage" that you have encountered in your life? What did they mean to you?
Here are some examples:
- High School Graduation
- College Graduation
- Marriage
- Confirmation (Catholic)
- Baptism
- Barmitzvah or Batmitzvah (Jewish)
Goals
Have the goals of becoming an adult changed over time?
Click HERE to read an article from the Atlantic related to the "Cheapest Generation"!
The Cheapest Generation: Why Millenials aren't buying Cars or Houses, and what that means for the Economy
By Derek Thompson and Jordan Weismann
Click HERE for a web link to the same article.
Click HERE to read an article about why some are ditching cars for cell phones!
Why are Young People Ditching Cars for Cellphones?
By Jordan Weismann
Click HERE for a web link to the same article.
American Generations Age Timelines (age measured in 2009) | Pew Research
This graphic identifies the "generation" someone is in...in 2009 I was 45 years old so I am in the last year of the Boomer Generation!
Assessment
Lesson 25 Quiz
- Write out a list of "duties" or "responsibilities" that should be included in a job description for being an adult.
- Write up a personal evaluation about how well YOU did in meeting your "job" over the last week.
Lesson 25 Discussion
Read the two articles from the Atlantic above and comment on your own experience with this notion. See if you can talk to a Mellenial (born after 1990) and talk to your subject for the biography...how do their goals compare?