Quote:
Originally posted by James
Definition of Hazing.
But you know what? Not everything on the list will get you in trouble ,even if the "authorities" know you are doing it.
They will get you in trouble if someone complains about them, someone gets hurt or some claims damages.
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Very true, hazing isn't "hazing" until you're caught or someone prosecutes.
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When I'm stating there are events that may have positive outcomes from hazing, I'm speaking from viewpoint that there are members/pledges who are:
1) not able to recognize a truly dangerous event
2) see the hazing a simply traditional, and that everyone goes through it to prove your worth
3) shrug it off easily or with difficulty, but in the end, they DO shrug it off and accept the event as having happened
Let's take an extreme example of hazing. A fraternity drops several pledges out in the middle of nowhere, naked, and tells them to find their way home. That's extreme, in my opinion.
However, certain U.S. military divisions do similar rituals in order to ascertain your "soldierness" -- you get the standard battlefield rucksack, are told you need to get to this latitude and longitude by this time, and then dropped off in the jungle by helicopter. Hazing? No, that's what teaches you to rely upon your squadmates and you are challenged to use your wits and limited resources.
What could fraternities do to take that example from the military? Not nakedness, that's for sure, but challenging them to use whatever important material that was taught to them during training/pledge period would be an excellent reinforcement tactic. I've seen some organizations use directons that are solely written in Greek; others, they taught the pledges survival skills as a workshop at retreats. others show the pledges their values and virtues by having an unknown alumni nearby that the pledges have to ask for help from -- if they never bothered to ask for help, they would have been totally stranded.
Are those things, above, considered hazing, if the pledges are given the same chance to succeed as a member would in that situation?