Alternatives
Are there any activities which are acceptable substitutes for hazing?
Hank Nuwer: A number of schools and coaches are publishing what kind of rituals are positive and welcoming and violate neither criminal codes nor community standards. If there are skits that all classes put on, that can be a fun activity. But be careful, at one school the upperclass students made younger girls wear dog c0llars and leashes. Always there must be adult guidance in such matters--along with close cooperation with student leaders. You have to expect the best of the students but step in if the worst occurs--no different from teaching, right?
Is hazing becoming more wide-spread or is it going to fall out of fashion?
Hank Nuwer: We are in an age when rough humor is the norm, as witnessed by the gross episode involving a chicken, police officer, and young men in the movie Me, Myself and Irene. There is also the media influence of such movies on video as Dazed and Confused with one hazing scene after another that certainly is glorified, in my opinion. These media influences, as author Edgar Friedenberg points out, are part of a manipulative mass culture that tends to blot out originality in our young people and adults alike.
We have such diversity in our school population today that students naturally choose initiations as a way of trying to make their own groups more homogenous. I am not all that much in favor of colleges trying to find the perfect matches for dorm roommates. We are a diverse nation, and we have to respect and recognize our differences. As I write in my book, we are in trouble in those schools where critical thinking skills are dashed and people are slaves to fads and look only to relate to others like themselves. I'm certainly not going to defend the shooters in Columbine, and I was sickened by such a loss of blessed lives...but for all the right reasons I would hope that civility can be the norm we strive for this year and future years. Students and teachers alike need to respect one another in order for learning to take place. Hazing and bullying and intimidation (especially if there are adults present who condone it or who fail to act when they come upn hazing) are the natural enemies of respect--and killers of self-respect.
Were you a victim of hazing? Does your school permit it? Please post your comments and experiences in the Forum!
