Personal Injury Law

School Hazing

By Megan Roth

Many look at hazing as a sort of right of passage - it's a tradition. Harmless pranks, right? Wrong. Hazing is defined as any activity expected of someone joining a group that humiliates, degrades, or risks harm to that individual. Hazing activities vary by group/organization and not all acts are criminal in nature; however, the acts involved are almost always against the rules of the institution or team involved.

Generally speaking, hazing is a social problem that goes hand-in-hand with bullying and it's a demeaning, abusive practice which saturates our educational system. Hazing is intended to create situations of discomfort or embarrassment amongst new members as a means of initiation into an organization or a team. It deals with status; many existing members of a group utilize forms of hazing to make newbies earn their place within an organization, similar to the way preexisting members had to earn their own places. They reason that they survived, so others will too. But what happens when the hazing goes to far? What happens when the line between harmless prank and criminal activity is crossed?

Just ask Michael Flynn, who was hospitalized for two weeks and suffered permanent health problems after a hazing experiment by his fraternity brothers turned deadly.

And Flynn isn't alone. He's just one of approximately 250,000 college students and 1.5 million high school students who are hazed each year. And what's worse is the fact that all hazing statistics are really an underestimate of the literal number of hazing activities that take place. Seems absurd, doesn't it? Just think: millions of teenagers and young adults endure severe psychological and emotional stress every year (often with long-term effects involved), all to fit in - to be a part of something.

Many government officials have recognized the severity of hazing, and 44 states now have laws against hazing-related activities. Unfortunately, however, those laws aren't enough. Because many incidents of hazing are not reported, many go unnoticed and, as a result, unpunished. Students, parents, and school officials must work to eliminate hazing on all levels. Granted, ridding all organizations of hazing in its various forms is unrealistic; however, we can lessen the likelihood of it occurring by increasing awareness of the issue. The solution to every problem has to start somewhere, why not here?

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on September 07, 2008 (boomark / email).