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Hazing
http://forum.hrwiki.org/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=9506		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  Lu Bu [ Tue Aug 15, 2006 1:51 pm ]
Post subject:  Hazing
What do you think about it? I had no idea what it was until I saw a documentary on it last night. You wouldn't believe what you had to do to get in some fraternities! And the sororities were much worse. They even have hazing rituals in highschool! This one wrestling coach used pinkbellies as punishment and a test to newcomers. Anyway, share your opionons.
Author:  ButtdanceHR [ Tue Aug 15, 2006 2:28 pm ]
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We have, and I'm sure many others as well, freshmen haze day. It's the first friday of school. I didn't get hazed, and I heard of no one else who did. Although some sophmores and juniors did set off a chemical bomb in the middle of a crowd. It was awesome, cause we got a longer lunch, and our 6th period was cut off to like 25 minutes from 100 while they searched for who set it off.

I'm pretty sure that 'hazing' (I think it's called something else) to get into a sororities is illegal. In one sororitie (sp?), they made the newcomers drink gallons and gallons of water, then run an exstensive course around the track. One person ended up dead from doing that. I'm not too sure about any other details.
Author:  Lu Bu [ Tue Aug 15, 2006 2:32 pm ]
Post subject: 
Yeah, and it gets worse then that. Plus, hazing goes on for weeks. The lack of sleep and getting drunk everynight must be tough.
Author:  PianoManGidley [ Tue Aug 15, 2006 3:04 pm ]
Post subject: 
Hazing is indeed illegal, and is defined by Dictionary.com as:

Dictionary.com wrote:
1. To persecute or harass with meaningless, difficult, or humiliating tasks.
2. To initiate, as into a college fraternity, by exacting humiliating performances from or playing rough practical jokes upon.


Now, this differs a bit from the definitions I learned when I joined the fraternity I'm in. I joined a fraternity that abides by a strict no-hazing policy. However, because of legal ramifications, "hazing" can essentially be defined as "what the initiate [we weren't even allowed to call them "pledge" because of the negative connotations that name carries] would not feel comfortable doing." Even if it's doing something as simple and unoffensive (to most) as carrying around a markless book in public, if the initiate didn't want to do it, we couldn't make them, or else it was "hazing." There were some other definitions we had that our chapter used as a guideline to distinguish anything that might be construed as hazing, such as "Is this something that both actives and initiates are having to do, or just initiates?" and "Is this something I would be proud to show my mother?"

I have to admit that I did become a bit irked at times on how little we could do, because there are certain things that fraternities and sororities do that many on the outside see as "hazing," but many of us on the inside recognize as being an act to strengthen the sense of brotherhood (or sisterhood, in the case of sororities) between us and the initiates as well as amongst the initiates themselves. Nevertheless, we found plenty of ways to partake in many activities with our initiates that everyone enjoyed and that greatly strengthened our sense of fraternity among one another.

All in all, I agree that there's a lot of hazing that is unnecessary, because I saw plenty of other fraternities and sororities that hazed just for the sake of hazing--making their pledges do things that held no meaning whatsoever, just for their own kicks. This is hazing that I AM against. However, I would still like to see a bit of lee-way, at least if a campus' chapter can show district representatives as well as management of the university that certain acts that might be construed as "hazing" actually have a deeper, positive purpose.
Author:  ramrod [ Tue Aug 15, 2006 4:09 pm ]
Post subject: 
Hazing in recognized frats is illegal, but on a lot of Uni's, there are a lot of unrecognized frats. These are pretty much people that got together and said "Let's make a frat!" These are usually the ones that do the hazing.
Author:  lahimatoa [ Tue Aug 15, 2006 4:30 pm ]
Post subject: 
I agree, PMG. There's a fine line between harmful hazing and harmless hazing and it's hard to define.

Duct taping someone naked upside-down in the locker room for an hour? I think that's going too far, but others disagree.

I think that's why many schools decide to err on the side of caution.
Author:  racerx_is_alive [ Tue Aug 15, 2006 4:39 pm ]
Post subject: 
lahimatoa wrote:
Duct taping someone naked upside-down in the locker room for an hour? I think that's going too far, but others disagree.

I think that's why many schools decide to err on the side of caution.


Man, I hope you were joking because I totally cracked up. That was almost Jack Handey-ish.
Author:  Alexander [ Tue Aug 15, 2006 4:42 pm ]
Post subject: 
Begging your pardon, but what is Hazing?
Author:  Didymus [ Tue Aug 15, 2006 4:48 pm ]
Post subject: 
Hazing is a college tradition whereby fraternities and sororities essentially torture and punish prospective new members (usually called pledges). These tortures often involved extreme punishments or even highly inappropriate public behavior. In theory, they were to test the pledges' loyalty, dedication, courage, and endurance. However, in reality, it is really just to humiliate the pledges and amuse those who test them.

When I was in college, I was asked to be part of a fraternity. I turned it down because I thought the hazing just made them look silly. They even offered to allow me to join without the initiation, but by that point, I really didn't have a high opinion of them, so I declined again. The very next year, that fraternity was outlawed on campus because of inappropriate hazing. And this was a Christian college!
Author:  Alexander [ Wed Aug 16, 2006 2:29 am ]
Post subject: 
It sounds horrid.

And I'm not surprised that it was a Christian college. It reminds me very much of Heritage.
Author:  DESTROY US ALL! [ Wed Aug 16, 2006 3:09 am ]
Post subject: 
There is always freshman hazing for any kid at my schools. The faculty seems to ignore it. At the first and last friday of the year we get the whole thing, Pee Balloons (a warm modification on the water balloon), paddles, even to the extent of random beatings. The best thing to do is to cut your last class those days and walk home.
its awful and I hope when my class becomes the senoir class we'll have enough class not to trash the freshman class.
Author:  sb_enail.com [ Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:27 am ]
Post subject: 
I think hazing is a pretty terrible practice. Fortunately, I wasn't subjected to it when I was a Freshman. I really don't see what purpose it serves except to make the upper classmen feel big and tough, and tearing others down to build yourself up is a pretty pathetic way to gain self-esteem.
Author:  Artvandelay [ Wed Aug 16, 2006 10:42 pm ]
Post subject: 
At the University of Idaho, they had a bunch of frat pledges run naked around the campus. That's the only hazing I've ever seen. I guess it doesn't surprise me that it happens in high school, but it's still mind-boggling. Pee balloons? That's way, way over the top.
Author:  StrongRad [ Thu Aug 17, 2006 3:43 am ]
Post subject: 
While most hazing activities are horrible and can, quite easily, get out of hand, I've heard psychologists talk about how it promotes unity in a group. Supposedly, if all members of a certain group go through the hazing, they all have a common experience to build upon.
This makes sense, I've been through some things that would be defined as "hazing", and I'm stronger for it (as are my ties to the members of those groups.

I see nothing wrong with a little harmless fun (harmless, in this case means no serious or long term physical injuries, at worst, some simulated peril).
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