Annotated Bibliography

Collinson, Vivienne, and Lynn M. Hoffman. "High School As A Rite Of Passage For Social And Intellectual Development." Proc. of Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, April 1998, San Diego, CA: ERIC. Web. 24 June 2013.

This is a study of high school students in which the authors argue American high schools do not engage students and are unsuccessful because the classes separate the social and academic aspect of developing toward adulthood.  I will use this information to argue that high schools need to work on preparing adolescents for adulthood.  The article calls for the United States to reform our secondary education by responsibly, radically rethinking the system.

Colozza, Jenna. “Growing up without really growing up.” timesunion.com. Hearst Newspapers, 7 Nov. 2012. Web. 22 June 2013.

Colozza writes an editorial about how she is not sure whether adolescence is about growing up to become more responsible or enjoying the freedom which is given them.  She makes inferences from personal observations about she notices students like to live in the moment but cannot find much meaning in their life.  Her first hand experiences, and mine, will offer a good basis for an argument that high school is or isn’t a rite of passage.

Fletcher, Jason M. "Social Multipliers In Sexual Initiation Decisions Among U.S. High School Students." Demography 44.2 (2007): 373-388. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 June 2013.

This is a study to determine the many types of social influences on high school student to decide to have sex.  Sex is important step in becoming an adult and many have it in high school.  The study begins when students are in eighth grade so the influences from pre-adolescence are not tested in this study.  My paper will only deal with high school rites of passage so this will not be a problem.

Hoffman, Lynn. “Why High Schools Don’t Change: What Students and Their Yearbooks Tell Us.” The High School Journal 86.2 (2002-2003): 22-37. Academic Search Complete. Web. 13 June 2013.

This article deals with yearbook students only.  This is limiting for my research paper but the study conducted by Hoffman still does a great job at defining what rites of passage are included in high school and what students care about during their attendance to this establishment.  Hoffman finds that students care most of all for other students as both acquaintances and friends.  Hoffman states that adults must first understand high school students in order to reform the high school.

Kessler, Rachael. "Initiation--Saying Good-Bye To Childhood."Educational Leadership 57.4 (2000): 30-33. ERIC. Web. 24 June 2013.

Rachael Kessler calls for programs in which students can participate in rites of passage from childhood to adulthood.  These programs, that would be a part of the schools, are needed because “[p]ositive rites of passage for young people are sorely lacking in today’s society.”  Kessler defines what is needed in school-based rites of passage which I will base my conclusion from.  It will allow me to determine whether high school is a rite of passage and if students graduate as adults.