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Hazing
A group of seniors at Glenbrook North High School outside Chicago were caught
on tape by a fellow classmate allegedly beating junior girls and covering them
with mud, feces, pig entrails, garbage, and paint. Part of an annual powder puff
touch football game held between girls in the senior and junior classes as a
rite of passage for incoming seniors, the incident caused a firestorm of
controversy, bringing the topic of high school hazing into the limelight.
An initiation rite most often associated with fraternities and sororities,
hazing isn't a new phenomenon in older kids and young adults. And it could be a
problem that's existed, without much media attention, for quite some time in
high schools.
Older, often popular kids - or those already accepted in a certain group -
pass along "traditions" they likely succumbed to in years past. Those doing the
hazing might contend that it's all just a long-lived facet of becoming a part of
something - an upper class at school, a sports team, a club, a social group or
clique, or even a gang.
Meanwhile, younger kids desiring acceptance just chalk it up to part of going
through the ranks of their social crowd, class, or athletic team. Many figure
that they have to endure the hazing this year, but that they'll be able to
unleash the tradition on others next year.
The annual powder puff football hazing at Glenbrook North High had reportedly
been occurring off-campus for years. The latest incident sent five girls to the
hospital (one for a broken ankle, another for gashes in her scalp). Twelve girls
and three boys allegedly involved were charged with battery, 33 seniors
were expelled, and 20 juniors were suspended by the school.
Although the powder puff football game was held off-campus at a local park
and the students apparently kept the date and location hush-hush, many are
wondering if something could have been done to prevent the annual event from
happening again.
What Is Hazing?
Much attention has been paid to
the often over-the-top rituals at institutions of higher learning, but little
has been reported about why younger kids are putting their peers through these
emotional and physical rites of passage.
The end result of hazing is usually embarrassment and demoralization, but
that's not always the intention, says child and adolescent psychologist D'Arcy
Lyness, PhD. "I don't think that's on anyone's mind as hazing begins," Lyness
explains. "Hazing has to do with earning entry - and making it hard to earn
entry - into whatever group it is."
Hazing is a way to have people demonstrate their commitment to a group and to
show how much they want to be in that club. However, many who go through hazing
endure not only embarrassment, but harassment, ridicule, and even injuries that
can be severe or life-threatening.
Hazing can include a number of types of mental and physical insults of
varying degrees that may not be perceived as abuse or victimization, even by
those perpetuating and enduring it.
Although some forms of subtle hazing - being called demeaning names or having
to refer to peers as Ms. or Mr. - are seemingly benign, they can still cause
feelings of degradation. Emotional distress can come from more serious types of
hazing - verbal abuse, public displays in which participants have to wear
ridiculous apparel or perform embarrassing stunts, and being required to perform
certain duties or menial tasks for others.
But there's a difference between forcing someone to dress up in an
embarrassing outfit and being beaten and covered in feces, as in the incident at
Glenbrook North High. The effects can be increasingly dangerous when hazing
involves risk-taking, being forced to drink excess amounts of alcohol, or
physical abuse.
"Perhaps the biggest problem is that the line can get crossed very quickly,"
Lyness says. "People are relaxing their individual responsibility and judgment
and getting peer validation for their actions. The momentum can build quickly
and a situation can get out of control."
Why Do "Good" Kids Participate in or Watch
Hazing?
In the Illinois hazing incident, a crowd of students
reportedly stood by, cheering on the activities as they drank beer. Meanwhile,
many of the accused students' parents attested that their daughters are "good
girls" and wouldn't do something like this. But why would otherwise nice
kids willingly participate in or observe such abusive acts?
"When people are in a group, they often relax individual responsibility,
assuming that someone else will act when it's appropriate," Lyness says. "This
explains why a group of bystanders often does nothing, but the same individuals
might take action if they were the only bystander."
In social situations in which there's uncertainty, people - especially kids -
often look to leaders (in the Illinois case, the accused seniors) for cues and
social proof about what is and isn't acceptable behavior, says Lyness. Being
told what to do and how to participate reduces the discomfort of social
uncertainty. The most easily influenced will do what leaders tell them, then
others may follow, too. Watching others, kids may think, "It must be OK.
Everyone else is doing it. They must know what they're doing."
"Everyone is looking to others and getting peer validation that the correct
action is just what everyone else is doing. This might also help explain why no
one takes the initiative to stop what's going on, speak up, or take themselves
out of the situation," Lyness says.
Although it might seem like kids who haze are the same ones who bully, that's
not necessarily the case. Bullying is often an
attempt to exclude someone from a group or activity, whereas hazing is an
attempt to include someone through an initiation process.
"Bullying is about using uneven power to make yourself feel more powerful at
someone else's expense, and many bullies are the kids who lack social
conscience," Lyness explains. "But hazing is the difficult rite of passage to
earn membership."
Both bullies and hazers can feel a sense of higher power or status. However,
bullies exhibit a pattern of intentionally hurting others on repeated occasions;
hazers are often simply caught up in a role within a group or team on one
occasion or limited occasions, says Lyness. Though some kids who haze may have
some of the same characteristics as those who bully, bullying doesn't explain
hazing.
What Are Some Alternatives to Hazing?
It might
seem contradictory that those who endure hazing would feel allegiance toward a
group of people inflicting discomfort - even pain - on them, but Lyness says
hazing does, in fact, build commitment, even if it is often an emotionally
unhealthy sense of commitment.
"There is a psychological principle that's sometimes referred to as
'commitment and consistency' at work. When a person has put themselves through a
difficult rite of passage to become a member, he or she does feel more committed
to the group," she says. Going through hazing can make a person believe their
actions are consistent with their commitment.
But there are other ways for organized groups or teams to foster unity,
commitment, and communication:
- Plan events in which the whole group, team, or organization attends (such
as field trips, retreats, dances, movies, and plays).
- Participate in team-building activities (for example, visit a ropes
course).
- Plan a social event with another group.
- Develop a peer mentor program within the group, teaming seasoned members
with new members.
- Work together on a community service project or plan fundraisers for local
charitable organizations.
What Can You Do About Hazing?
Anti-hazing laws
and policies do exist in most states, as well in many individual schools. And
you'd be hard-pressed to find a college or university without a very clear
anti-hazing policy in place. But just because there are policies and laws
doesn't mean students know about or abide by them. The students involved in the
powder puff football incident in Illinois clearly violated Glenbrook North High
School's hazing policy, even though the activities occurred off-campus.
Students - and even parents - may dismiss annual hazing-oriented rites as
good old tradition, silly fun, or harmless high jinks. But this mentality could
only perpetuate a problem that, Lyness says, shouldn't be overlooked. "No one
intends the harm that sometimes happens at hazing rituals, but the same is true
for bullying - often adults minimize it as a normal childhood behavior, and it
can have harmful consequences."
Even the most benign types of hazing can easily go awry, turning ugly and
sometimes dangerous, says Lyness. But there are steps you, as a parent, can take
to help prevent your child from ever having to endure this type of hazing:
- Educate yourself about your state's anti-hazing laws (all but seven states
have some sort of law applying to schools, colleges, universities, and other
educational institutions). Some schools - and states - may group hazing and
bullying together in policies and laws.
- Make sure your child's school and/or district has clearly defined policies
that prohibit hazing, is taking measures to proactively prevent hazing from
occurring, and is acting immediately with repercussions when hazing does
occur.
- Ask your parent-teacher association and/or school administrators to invite
a local law-enforcement official to speak to parents and/or the student body
about hazing and the state's anti-hazing law.
- Work with school personnel and student leaders to create powerful - and
safe - experiences to promote positive alternatives to hazing that would
foster cohesion in group, club, and team membership.
- Talk to other parents - especially those of upperclassmen and your child's
sports teammates - about what their children may have seen or experienced. If
you know that the problem exists at your child's school, you'll be better
prepared to discuss it with your child, fellow parents, and school officials.
- Cliched as it is, have the "if everyone else was jumping off the bridge,
would you do it, too?" conversation with your child, Lyness advises. Talk
about why your child shouldn't feel pressured to participate in anything, even
if "everyone else is doing it" or "it's always been done this way."
Talk specifically about hazing and what your child would do in a
hypothetical hazing situation. Discuss how the group mentality can sometimes
cause people to wait for someone else to do the right thing, stop something
dangerous, speak out, etc.
"Discuss the topic in a way that doesn't lecture or tell your child what to
think or do. It's better to ask kids to tell you what they would do, or
what they think about it," Lyness encourages. "Kids are more committed
to the ideas they state themselves, so get them to actively state their own
values and ideas to you. Let your child know that often it just takes one
person to speak out or take different action to change a situation. Others
will follow if someone has the courage to be first to do something different,
or to be first to refuse to go along with the group. Allow kids to consider
themselves leaders, and to know that they have the potential to make a
difference."
- Explain to your child that physical and mental abuse, no matter how
harmless it may seem, isn't part of becoming a member of the in crowd or a
specific group, and that it may even be against the law. Emphasize the
importance of telling you and an adult at school whenever another kid or group
of kids causes your child or anyone else physical harm.
- If your child has experienced hazing, talk to school officials
immediately. If physical abuse was involved, talk to your local
law-enforcement agency. Though he or she may be unwilling or may feel uneasy
about "telling on" peers, get precise details from your child about the
incident - who, what, when, where, and how.
Above all, maintain open communication with your child. Always ask what's
going on at school, what peers are doing, and what pressures are present -
physically, academically, and socially. Encourage your child to come to you in
any uncomfortable situation, big or small.
Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD
Date
reviewed: June 2003