Hazing: Child Play or Violent Crime?
On a startling Court TV program, Al Roker investigated the
horrors of 'hazing' reportedly not only in College sororities
and fraternities, but even in high schools across the country.
The program was extremely revealing and shocking as it provided
a weatlh of information regarding so-called Greek 'hazing'
rituals carried out across this Nation. Unfortunately, hazing is
a predominant force among colleges, schools, military and even
church groups, that it is blatantly out of control. Often,
supposed 'leaders' or participants of hazing are sadly protected
by 'frat brothers & sisters,' school coaches, and are rarely
prosecuted for hazing incidents - even those involving death.
The horrors of hazing are so unbelievable that most parents
would shiver to think that their child could ultimately be faced
with such vile cruelty.
What exactly is 'hazing?' According to the NFHS'
Interscholastic Athletic Administration magazine, 'Hazing is
defined as: any act or ceremony which creates the risk of harm
to the student or to any other party and that is committed as a
form of initiation into a particular club or activity. Hazing
includes, but is not limited to, activities that involve the
risk of physical harm, whipping, branding, ingesting vile
substances, sleep deprivation, over-exposure to heat or cold,
restraint, nudity, or kidnapping. Hazing could also include
include actions or simulations of a sexual nature, activities
that create a hostile, abusive, or intimidating environment for
the student.'
As a random example, the state of South Carolina lists the S.C. Code of Laws for hazing as:
ARTICLE 6.
HAZING SECTION 16-3-510
Hazing unlawful; definitions.
It is unlawful for a person to intentionally or recklessly
engage in acts which have a foreseeable potential for causing
physical harm to a person for the purpose of initiation or
admission into or affiliation with a chartered or nonchartered
student, fraternal, or sororal organization. Fraternity,
sorority, or other organization for purposes of this section
means those chartered and nonchartered fraternities, sororities,
or other organizations operating in connection with a school,
college, or university. This section does not include customary
athletic events or similar contests or competitions, or military
training whether state, federal, or educational.
SECTION 16-3-520.
Unlawful to assist in or fail to report hazing.
It is unlawful for any person to knowingly permit or assist any
person in committing acts made unlawful by Section 16-3-510 or
to fail to report promptly any information within his knowledge
of acts made unlawful by Section 16-3-510 to the chief executive
officer of the appropriate school, college, or university.
SECTION 16-3-530.
Penalties.
Any person who violates the provisions of Sections 16-3-510 or
16-3-520 is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must
be punished by a fine not to exceed five hundred dollars or by
imprisonment for a term not to exceed twelve months, or both.
SECTION 16-3-540.
Consent not a defense.
The implied or express consent of a person to acts which violate
Section 16-3-510 does not constitute a defense to violations of
Sections 16-3-510 or 16-3-520."
If we look at this law, we can clearly see how vaguely
defined the hazing law is. In fact, the penalties are a gross
insult to student or other individual victims of 'hazing
incidents.' In one breath, it states that '...it is unlawful
for a person to intentionally or recklessly engage in acts which
have a forseeable potential for causing physical harm to a
person...' Then if we scroll down on the same code of
laws' page, we find the following set of similar laws,
exluding hazing by definition:
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Article 7
ASSAULT AND CRIMINAL SEXUAL CONDUCT
SECTION 16-3-620.
Assault and battery with intent to kill.
The crime of assault and battery with intent to kill shall be
a felony in this State and any person convicted of such crime
shall be punished by imprisonment not to exceed twenty
years.
SECTION 16-3-654.
Criminal sexual conduct in the third degree.
(1) A person is guilty of criminal sexual conduct in the third
degree if the actor engages in sexual battery with the victim
and if any one or more of the following circumstances are
proven:
(a) The actor uses force or coercion to accomplish the sexual
battery in the absence of aggravating circumstances.
(b) The actor knows or has reason to know that the victim is
mentally defective, mentally incapacitated, or physically
helpless and aggravated force or aggravated coercion was not
used to accomplish sexual battery.
(2) Criminal sexual conduct in the third degree is a felony
punishable by imprisonment for not more than ten years,
according to the discretion of the court.
ARTICLE 9.
KIDNAPPING SECTION
SECTION 16-3-910.
Kidnapping.
Whoever shall unlawfully seize, confine, inveigle, decoy,
kidnap, abduct or carry away any other person by any means
whatsoever without authority of law, except when a minor is
seized or taken by his parent, is guilty of a felony and, upon
conviction, must be imprisoned for a period not to exceed thirty
years unless sentenced for murder as provided in Section
16-3-20.
SECTION 16-3-920.
Conspiracy to kidnap.
If two or more persons enter into an agreement, confederation,
or conspiracy to violate the provisions of Section 16-3-910 and
any of such persons do any overt act towards carrying out such
unlawful agreement, confederation, or conspiracy, each such
person shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, shall
be punished in like manner as provided for the violation of
Section 16-3-910.
ARTICLE 17.
HARASSMENT AND STALKING
SECTION 16-3-1700.
Definitions.
As used in this article:
(A) "Harassment" means a pattern of intentional, substantial,
and unreasonable intrusion into the private life of a targeted
person that causes the person and would cause a reasonable
person in his position to suffer mental distress. Harassment may
include, but is not limited to:
(1) following the targeted person as he moves from location to
location;
(2) visual, physical, verbal, written, or electronic contact
that is initiated, maintained, or repeated after a person has
been provided notice that the contact is unwanted;
(3) surveillance of or the maintenance of a presence near the
targeted person's:
(a) residence;
(b) place of work;
(c) school; or
(d) another place regularly occupied by the targeted person; and
(4) vandalism and property damage.
SECTION 16-3-1710.
Penalties upon conviction for harassment.
(A) A person who engages in harassment is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than
two hundred dollars, imprisoned not more than thirty days, or
both.
(B) A person convicted of harassment against a person within
seven years of a prior conviction of harassment against or
stalking of that person, or when an injunction or restraining
order is in effect prohibiting this conduct, is guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than
one thousand dollars, imprisoned not more than one year, or
both.
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Clearly, we can see that all of the above laws directly
coincide with incidents of 'hazing.' Deplorably, these laws
reflect similar views across the Nation and are in incredible
need of revisioning. In addition to this, Alaska, Hawaii,
Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota and Wyoming have absolutely
no anti-hazing laws. To find out how your individual
state laws are written, you can review them by going to StopHazing.org for a complete list of
states.
In a report written by Greg Toppo of USA Today in
2004, there were 48 school-related violent deaths from August
through June alone. In his article, he writes, 'President
Bush's 2005 budget proposes a 40% drop in spending for juvenile
crime prevention, following a 44% cut...' For more
literature on hazing, read 'Too Cruel for School,' by People Magazine
(compliments of HazingLaw.com), '511 Dangerous Traditions:
Hazing Rituals on Campus and University Liability,' (Journal
of College and University Law) or 'Brutal Rituals - Dangerous Rites' (the
American School Board Journal).
Is 'hazing' child's play or violent crime? I'd like to refer
back to the list of laws above for that answer. It is plain to
see that hazing groups are liken to that of sociological destructive cult groups. A
shared trait of both sociological cults and hazing members, are
that they both isolate their victims or 'pledges' from friends
and relatives to gain private access, and better control over
them. Additionally, they both tend to brainwash members or
prospective members into believing their ideals and practices. A
good checklist to review on cult-like behavior can be found
here: Cult Checklist
As a social issue, hazing is a volatile crime that should not
only be prosecuted to the fullest extent of assault, battery,
rape and other criminal laws; but also, any community leaders
such as coaches, teachers, etc. should be held accountable for
inaction to prevent hazing incidents when they are aware or
condone such events. Today, hazing is still considered
'child's play' by many communities that yield a blind eye to
hazing rituals. In most cases, victims are humiliated,
physically tortured, mentally abused, molested, raped, and live
with emotional and physical scars that may last a lifetime.
Hazing victims are usually forced to leave schools, institutions
and other organizations in fear of their lives.
Hazing is NOT child's play. It is a violent act or
acts that sometimes leads to a senseless, fatal crime. As a
parent, it appauls me that a Nationwide law has not been
legislated to prevent or legitimately prosecute hazing
organizations. A formidable form of 'child's play,'
hazing is considered light-hearted and a simple 'initiation
process' until it happens to your child, your
niece or nephew, or your sibling.
There are several organizations, like StopHazing.org that advocates total
elimination of Hazing and offers in-depth resources, support and
a free sign-up form for individuals interested in
supporting their efforts.
Hank Nuwer, a leading researcher in citing hazing incidents and
deaths, has written several informative books on hazing. Per his
website, hazing.hanknuwer.com, Mr. Nuwer provides
beneficial resources to individuals about hazing incidents,
external links, laws, and much more.
In a 'moral' and civilized society, hazing should never
be tolerated. You can make a world of difference...stay
informed, get involved, be aware and stop hazing in its tracks
before it touches you personally.
References:
1. Court TV - http://courttv.com/choices/calendar.html 2.
South Carolina Code of Laws - www.scstatehouse.net/code/t16c003.htm 3.
StopHazing.org - www.stophazing.org/laws.html 4. USA Today
Report - HazingLaw.com - www.hazinglaw.com/schooldeaths.htm 5. 'Too
Cruel for School' - People Magazine - HazingLaw.com - www.hazinglaw.com/cruelforschool.htm 6. '511
Dangerous Traditions: Hazing Rituals on Campus and University
Liability' - Journal of College and University Law 7. 'Brutal
Rituals - Dangerous Rites' - the American School Board Journal
8. CultFaq.org 9. Wikipedia.org 10. Hank Nuwer - http://hazing.hanknuwer.com