Rites of passage are in every culture except that in the modern setting it is harder to discern it because of rapid transit of bodies and ideas. This rapidity is related to the development of smelting metal, manufacture electricity on demand and the discovery and refinement of petroleum.

Metals meant the Guttenberg printing press which caused the rapid transit of information. Electricity meant the convenient control of light (like sunlight). Petroleum meant the gasoline combustion engine which caused horses to be replaced by machine.

Even no ceremony is itself a rite of passage based on the fact that a transit rapidly-changing culture cannot represent itself by anything permanent as in the sense of village life thousands of years ago.

A rite of passage must come out of the way of life and influences of the time. This means the associations in the form of relatives, school friends, media influence and societal pressure must create that rite of passage. Right now, in America the media has the biggest influence in my opinion. Therefore, it should create the major part of the rite of passage for youths.

And let me take a look at the rites of passage of lower mammals like tigers and birds. How do they recognize or appraise the maturity of their young?