High school yearbook students from five schools in a large suburban school
system were surveyed and interviewed to investigate what was meaningful
and memorable to them throughout their high school experience. The
yearbooks they produced were analyzed to confirm their responses and gain
more information about their interests and priorities. Chang's (1992)
elements of adolescent ethos, including getting along, being involved,
and gaining independence, provided a conceptual framework. Transcripts of
focus group interviews, surveys, and yearbooks were examined and analyzed
for references to rites of passage and intensification embedded in the
high school program and described by Burnett (1969). Yearbook students in
this study articulated the importance of the adolescent ethos elements
described by Chang (1992). Relationships with friends and acquaintances
emerged as students' primary focus. They equated growing up with accepting
responsibility. Students identified markers of independence similar
to those described by Chang (1992), including driving, having a job,
and taking responsibility in extracurricular activities. Additional
markers of independence suggested by these students were receiving mail
from prospective colleges, earning the trust of adults, and experiencing
the death of a classmate. Students' comments, supported by yearbook text
and pictures, indicated the presence of and importance attached to high
school rites of passage and intensification. Students demonstrated a
lack of interest in their academic work through their oral and written
responses and the minimal coverage they allotted to academics in their
yearbooks. Students' descriptions of academic as compared to their
yearbook classes, along with the importance of the adolescent ethos and
rites of passage, offer clues for meaningful high school restructuring
from students' perspectives.