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)

Assessment

Lesson 25 Quiz

1. Write out a list of "duties" or "responsibilities" that should be included in a job description for being an adult.
2. Write up a personal evaluation about how well YOU did in meeting your "job" over the last week.