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Rites Of Passage, Right Or Wrong

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Rites of Passage, “Right or Wrong”? Throughout history the term “rights of passage” has been used to describe the transition of a person into a new stage of their lives. Rites of passage are relevant in every day life all over the world. Most prominently though, Africa has a large population of people whose groups still practice traditional rites of passage to mark special life achievements. Basically, anything meaningful that happens within their tribe such as the birth of a child, the entrance into adulthood, marriage, death, and so on, are all celebrated with the completion of different customs. The celebration of rituals include dances, songs, and other formalities, however groups across the continent also use varying methods of initiation that most commonly include circumcision in both sexes. For decades, people have questioned whether or not this traditional initiation ritual is necessary and if it could possibly be harmful to young people within certain tribes that practice them. Much controversy surrounds the issue of following tradition even while performing procedures such as female mutilation. How are these rites of passage viewed as beneficial and how are they seen as destructive? What are some alternative rites of passage for these young initiates? A rite of passage, in African culture, is a ceremonial event in which a person enters into a new stage of their life(Haley, McNaughton, Moss, Sallah and Wilson 3). Many of the traditional rituals and ceremonies

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