Rite of Passage Experience^© - ROPE^®

The passage from childhood to adulthood frequently occurs with a lot of stress and struggle for both children and their parents. Many youth development experts believe that the absence of healthy, community-sanctioned rites of passage is at the root of this struggle.

Children and teens have a natural impulse to create or take part in rites of passage experiences to claim their place as adults. If this impulse is not acknowledged and channeled, it can result in them turning to destructive activities such as drinking, smoking, bullying, sex, delinquent acts, joining gangs, and the use of drugs to mark for themselves and their peer group their entry into adulthood.

Creating a Contemporary Rite of Passage Experience©

Human history is rich with accounts of rituals and rites of passage. Times of transition – including birth, coming-of-age, marriage and death – provoke heightened individual and community emotions and instability. So, humans have traditionally created and used rituals to acknowledge and celebrate these times of change – to help us grow as individuals and to strengthen the bonds of community. In this context, coming-of-age rites of passage were our first youth and community development strategies.

It was with this in mind, that Dr.Blumenkrantz developed a contemporary Rite of Passage Experience© initiative. Since its inception in 1981, ROPE® been delivered to over 100,000 youth and their families across the United States and Canada and has been successfully replicated in small towns and large cities. It is structured to provide the same experiences to students no matter what the location, yet is flexible enough to be adapted to fit each community's individual needs.

ROPE® has been recognized as an exemplary approach to promoting youth development and leadership by a number of national and state organizations, including the National League of Cities, the Child Welfare League of American, the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, the Connecticut Youth Services Association, and the Connecticut Office of Policy & Management.

You’ll find more detailed information about ROPE® and how to bring it to your community by visiting any of the site areas in the menu to the left or by contacting TheCenter@rope.org.