1. Coming of Age Ceremonies These icons indicate that teacher’s notes or useful web addresses are available in the Notes Page. For more detailed instructions, see the Getting Started presentation. This icon indicates the slide contains activities created in Flash. These activities are not editable.

2. Growing up Now I’m 18 I’m able to vote. I’m 16 now, I can leave school and even get married. I’m thirteen – I’m a teenager, not a child.

3. When do we become adults?

4. Jewish beliefs about growing up Judaism teaches that girls become adults at twelve, and boys at thirteen. They become members of the Jewish community in their own right and must take responsibility for their own religious beliefs. A boy’s Bar Mitzvah ceremony marks his transition to adulthood. Before his Bar Mitzvah ceremony he will be taught how to pray, read Hebrew and wear the tallit and tefillin . He must also study Judaism and Jewish history.

5. A boy’s Bar Mitzvah takes place on the first Shabbat after his thirteenth birthday. He reads from the Torah scrolls in Hebrew during the service. The Bar Mitzvah A party often takes place that evening where the boy will thank his parents for bringing him up. He is now accepted to be an adult member of the synagogue, and can be called up to read from the Torah and make up the minyan – the ten adult males necessary to hold a service.

6. The Bat Mitzvah In some Jewish communities girls often have the same kind of ceremony as boys, and for them it is called Bat Mitzvah . However, in Orthodox Jewish communities women do not read the Torah in services. Instead girls may have a Bat Chayil ceremony.

7. Christian confirmation Most children who are baptized as babies, have a confirmation ceremony when they decide for themselves to become a member of the Christian community. Christians must be baptized before they can be confirmed. The age at which Christians are confirmed varies. In the Anglican Church most people are confirmed when they are teenagers. Before being confirmed they will be taught about what it means to be Christian. The confirmation ceremony is held by a bishop , who blesses each child and prays from them. After being confirmed people can then take communion .

8. The confirmation ceremony

9. In some Baptist churches babies are not baptized. Instead, adults are baptized when they are old enough to make the decision for themselves. This is known as believers’ baptism . The person being baptized is immersed in water three times, symbolizing them washing their old life away. They wear white to symbolize a desire for purity. Adult baptisms

11. What main beliefs do rites of passage reveal?