Hazing, Bullying – Not the Same Thing
April 18th, 2009 by Sue Blaney
One might think with all the focus on raising awareness of bullying in high schools and junior high schools, that hazing incidents would have decreased. But disturbing examples of hazing crop up around the country too often. And there is an important distinction between hazing and bullying – the group dynamic can be what drives kids who know better to participate in hazing incidents.
StopHazing.Org states in Myths and Facts About Hazing, that this is not just “foolish pranks gone awry,” but rather an act of power and control over others. And done in a group, or team environment, it can easily get out of control.
Two professors doing research on the topic at University of Maine point out that “the group dynamic can lead to the escalation where you have…some horrendous incidents.”
The researchers, Allan and Madden, report that the highest rates of hazing occer as follows:
- among members of sports teams (47 percent),
- ROTC (46 percent),
- bands and performing arts organizations (34 percent),
- other school organizations (20 percent.)
Hazing-related activities included:
- being required to associate only with the peer group (28 percent),
- singing or chanting in public (21 percent),
- verbal abuse (19 percent),
- sleep deprivation (12 percent),
- getting a tattoo or piercing (12 percent),
- participating in a drinking game (12 percent),
- drinking until getting sick or losing consciousness (8 percent),
As we reflect this week on how we have changed in the 10 years since the Columbine tragedy, we might take into consideration the more subtle methods of coercion that continue to influence your teenagers.
Adults, be informed about this; make sure you are tuned in to the group dynamics that influence your teens so you can provide the guidance they may need.
This entry was posted on Saturday, April 18th, 2009 at 12:57 pm and is filed under High School, Peer Pressure & Friends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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April 22nd, 2009 at 5:03 pm
Most of what I have read from this site has made sense, but I want to say that we also must temper our views with some common sense. Certainly some of the methods described here are hazing I would even say they are abusive. But not all the methods here fall under this category. For example the ROTC is listed as a hazing group. There will be a little yelling and a little discomfort in being a member of ROTC. It is an organization that prepares “soldiers”. There will be sleep deprivation at basic training, it is part of the training it is not in my book hazing. Soldiers will be required to function under extreme conditions.
We are taking Political Correctness to extremes and in the long run we will not benefit kids by treating them like china dolls that break.
I do not advocate bullying of children but we need to learn that labels are too vague to fit every situation.
My child was in ROTC, he served in the navy and was not the worse for being pushed.
Now drinking until you get sick that is another issue. But let’s face it kids who are in organization asking for that as a requirement as also likely to be doing it in other situations.
We should teach our kids to know what is good or not for them long before they can drink.
April 22nd, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Fair and valid point! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.