By Ron Espinola Posted December 17, 2014
For most, the word hazing conjures images of “Animal House” or, more recently, “Old School”. Although this kind of activity continues to take place on college campuses across the US; what is often overlooked is the hazing or initiation practices at the high school level.
The playing fields and courts are supposed to be an extension of the classroom. In a perfect world, this would take place. All of our coaches would act as the best classroom teachers and the athletes would be the students who sit in the front of the room and come ready to learn. However, this is a utopian view of the world and we all know this is not the case. How many people show up to watch someone solve Calculus problems on a Friday Night?
Unfortunately, hazing and initiation activities, both on and off the field, are oftentimes overlooked or not recognized for what they are. Recently in several locations across the nation, school administrators took drastic actions to deal with hazing in athletics. In possibly the most infamous case this year, seven players from the Sayreville War Memorial High School football team faced charges ranging from hazing and conspiracy to sexual contact. In this case, the coaches were suspended and the season canceled. Similar action was taken to cancel the season of Central Bucks High School West in Doylestown, PA. Allegations of waterboarding and sexual touching were made.
These are not isolated incidents as several other programs were also shut down this year. And like any other activity in which the victim is often times humiliated; it is safe to assume that there are countless other incidents that are not reported. Two of the victims in the Sayreville case told the New York Times the hazing wasn’t a big deal; it was part of team bonding. But another felt suicidal after experiencing the hazing, and the now ever-present, social media backlash afterward.
Although all of these incidents occurred in football programs; hazing is not exclusive to that sport. Nor is it limited to high schools back east. Churchill County High School went through this several years ago with its wrestling program. (By the way, it’s also not just “boys-will-be-boys”; google Clemson women’s soccer.)
In December 2010 a 15-year-old wrestler was physically assaulted in a rather graphic and grotesque way by five of his teammates. In 2012, this cost the district $712,500 in a settlement with the victim while all of the perpetrators pleaded to charges under the juvenile justice system. These teammates learned too late that hazing is a misdemeanor as defined in NRS 200.605.
At some point we need to realize that this kind of behavior is not acceptable, even in its most tame forms. If we accept, or excuse, any hazing behavior is it not easy to see the poor example we are setting for children. After all, one can see this behavior every spring with the ritual hazing of Major League Baseball rookies. Or if you prefer you can see what the NFL players do to each other in the advancement of “team bonding” during training camp. How exactly is a team built by separating certain members out for special treatment, exclusion, punishment and ridicule?
Of course, we need to bring common sense to the issue and differentiate between harmless fun and criminal activity. We definitely do not need to go the extreme such as seeing a 7-year-old suspended for sexual harassment for giving a classmate a hug. All teams and groups have their own culture and different steps you must go through for acceptance. Sometimes this might just be some banter or ribbing, but when it escalates to the point where certain people are selected for special punishment and ridicule; it has crossed the line. Why would a coach allow this? This shouldn’t happen because, “It happened to me.” It wasn’t right then and it’s not right now. This is one of the most illogical reasons for hazing. It also leads us down the path of Adrian Peterson. Sometimes a tradition is simply a mistake made more than once.
I don’t want to say the B-word, but isn’t that what hazing really is? And if we are truly concerned with bullying and harassment; why does it seem that hazing is treated differently? Hazing does not build teams; it can only tear them apart.
