III. E (x/1000 wds). Recognition
1. (260/250)
The last 5-7 years of Phase II, where recognition of having met the requirements for a given community’s rite of passage Challenge are concerned, will revolve around continuing to educate, and advocate for children’s rights as Human Rights, for lobbying to arm children with the tools they need to keep themselves and other safe, and around commitment to cooperation and teaching one another to learn more. In these later years of this phase, the recognition conferred upon those who have passed The Challenge in various communities should give the equivalent of an informal status of educator, at least within the community where the candidate has been recognized as an “Adult” meeting those community standards, and hence as a person capable of and responsible for helping lead efforts to educate others. Such recognition makes these “Adults” strong advocates both for continuous learning in every way, and also for new ways of educating and equipping children for citizenship, due to the fact that these advocates have proven that they know how to cooperate, to teach themselves and others, and to do so with full empathy, both interpersonal or in-group, and social empathy. Thus, they will be well placed to lobby for stronger rights for children, within safe community. They will also be the core of a cadre of people entirely committed to making sure that every child has a sense of safe belonging, and a caring and supportive community to fall back upon. This is the highest and principle duty of every person called to serve in community, and in our society.
2. (263/250)
The sets of measurement tools, and the milestones for the later stages for Phase II, for decision-making around the recognition of new Adults in each community, should be evaluated and adjusted, if needed, at this time. Testing committees in each community may find it necessary to add requirements, depending on the needs of that community. The number of recognized Adults should be taken into consideration, at this point, as well as the then current trend for what the numbers look like up to the end of this phase, for deciding, as an entire community, whether to extend Phase II up to another 5 years further for that particular community. The question of whether to examine or talk with each person who has been taught by candidates for recognition should have been settled by every community engaging in this new rite of passage, by this time. Likewise, the question of whether goals for the numbers of candidates, recognized Adults, etc, should have been worked out within the community by this point, and possibly even opened up for comment by the remaining communities, or even the larger public, depending on the needs and desires of each particular community. The idea is to measure in some way the progress being made during this time in building greater flexibility of thinking both within each community, and also in the surrounding geographical community, and the larger overall society and public. Recognition of the success of those who have undergone this rite of passage is yet another tool that may help in building the needed societal flexibility of thought.
3. (293/250)
Again, in the last years of Phase II, the tools and some of the 1-minute activities developed by communities earlier for use in giving recognition to successful candidates for this new rite of passage should be joined to legal campaigns in favor of protecting every person, and safe and accessible travel for all members of society. Every person should have the right and the real ability to travel within and between cities in comfort, safety, and efficiency. An American version of the European Gap Year travel campaign, such as a ‘Travel To Learn’ campaign, may help with making this a reality. If the teaching test remains part of the adulthood rite of passage challenge, communities may wish to consider whether it should come after, or maybe as part of the two year time period, a required travel experience, for a wider learning by living under a greater variety of conditions. While a language learning requirement for that period may seem to be a bit too much of a difficulty to require of most candidates, many will benefit far more from having stretched themselves to the task of learning the local languages spoken before or while living in other parts of the country, like learning Latin American or Puerto Rican Spanish in many parts of the US, or even French for some towns in Maine, and to link to Cajun if living in parts of Louisiana or Mississippi where the patois is still spoken. After all, it is the most marginalized and left out of people whom this project aims to reach, help, and to lift up, and this task requires understanding both their particular ways of speaking and thinking, which can only be fully accomplished by learning at least some of their languages. The robust mass transit system developed during Phase I, obviously, will be a major tool for this travel.
4. (275/250)
The purpose, both practical and symbolic, of the recognition of successful candidates in various communities, of The new adulthood rite of passage Challenge, should well be applicable to individuals, communities, and to our wider society. Passing the final requirements for this Challenge should, quite likely, be recognized in a place that holds special significance for the community which is recognizing candidates as Adults. This recognition can act as a doorway in a far longer journey, both for the candidates and for the communities recognizing their achievement. On a practical level, this recognition means that those who succeed should now begin to lead us in innovation of learning practices, tools, ways of thinking, and habits of health in every way. On a symbolic level, this recognition means that those who have thusly succeeded should now be leading their communities, our society, and the entire world in hope, and in creative problem solving. More tools for governance, and indeed for wider ways of thinking, will need to be created that meet both our practical needs and our human need for symbol and ceremony. The new governance tools and teaching practices that we will need to develop, share, and learn to use, as a society, should be conceived, developed, refined, and shared by this new generation of upcoming leaders, as they teach us how to continue learning, stretch ourselves, share, and cooperate ever more effectively. This new paradigm will be extended further in the next years, as we come to the close of Phase, II, and the beginning of Phase III, with the Three Universals, Plus. We now move to the details of this next phase in chapter 9.