Highschool Hazing!!?!!!

ZetaLuvBunny · #1 11-01-2001, 02:09 PM

Until a couple of months ago, I didn't realize that what went on when I was in marching band was considered hazing (we were forced to dress up in embarrassing costumes by the older kids, forced to bring meals to them, sing and dance to silly songs in front of everyone, etc). None of that even comes close to what one of my sisters told me about her high school hazing experiences, though:

One of my sisters told me a few days ago that she had been in a high school sorority. They hazed really badly, aparently. The old members had forced the pledges to steal answer-books and tests from teachers so that the old members could cheat on homework and tests. They also forced them to come to school in bikinis (this, in a school with a strict DRESS-CODE) in the middle of WINTER, knowing that parents would be called and they would be sent home from school immediatly. If their parents asked them why they did that, they were not allowed to mention that they had been forced to by the sorority, and if they were caught stealing tests and such they also had to keep quiet.

One girl was even forced to go on a date with a guy who was well-known for being a player, and she was almost raped!!! Apparently, the sisters had told the guy that she wanted someone to lose her virginity with, knowing that he would go for it. The parents of this girl tried to get the school to shut down the sororities and fraternities, but lost, because the school claimed "it could have happened to anyone, regardless of affiliation with school clubs."

Doesn't that make you want to just slap the school board?!? My sister told me she was extremely glad that no hazing has happened in Zeta, and never will. I'm surprised that after that experience, she wasn't afraid to join the college Greek system. I just think that, overall, high school kids are too immature to handle Greek life the way it was meant to be. I haven't heard any positive stories about high school Greeks yet, but if they had more supervision perhaps they'd be better.

Does anyone else have a similar story? I hear that also a lot of hazing goes on in athletic teams and such as well.

ZTAngel · #2 11-01-2001, 03:01 PM

I can remember at my high school how the freshman girls who joined the soccer team had to dress up like clowns. Whenever an older member of the soccer team passed them by in the hallways, they new girls had to get down on their knees and kiss their feet and then do the whole "We're not worthy!" a la Wayne and Garth style. And the principal actually thought this was all funny!

dzrose93 · #3 11-01-2001, 03:21 PM

When my cousin got on his high school football team, he and the other freshmen were made by the older players to come to school one day dressed as girls. The older guys considered it a rite of passage into the team, and I don't think any of the younger guys regretted doing it. The school administration didn't see a problem with it either. I don't think that this form of "hazing" is harmful. My cousin still laughs about it to this day and loves showing the pictures that they took of each other. However, I know that some things are taken to the extreme, which is why we have "hazing laws" in place today.

MoxieGrrl · #4 11-01-2001, 03:25 PM

Hank Nuwer is writing a book on high school hazing. I'm not sure if it's out yet or not. Judging from his other books, this one is sure to be good! It's so sad that this happens!

It seems that if high school students (male or female) are hazed in high school sororities, sports teams, other organizations, etc... They will not be so shocked, appalled or even unwilling to be hazed in college fraternities and sororities. This completely undermines all of the hard work our national organizations are doing to prevent hazing incidents from happening.

Eirene_DGP · #5 11-01-2001, 06:12 PM

At our high school we had a group of upper class bullies that would put the freshman males into garbage cans. We also had freshman-senior week were the freshman had to do whatever the senior wanted him or her to do for a week. That entailed dressing up like clowns, cows or anything else and carrying their books. I am not sure if this would be high school hazing since the freshman were able to retaliate when they became seniors against a new unsuspecting freshman.

MoxieGrrl · #6 11-02-2001, 01:48 PM

Eirene_DGP: That *is* hazing! New members are hazed...then they think it's ok to incorportate pledge sneaks, binge drinking humiliation into the program when they are new member educator.

I can't believe that high schools let this stuff go on. Most of it does seem to be humiliation on this level (dressing up and all that), but it's still harmful! I think that it's more disruptive to education on the high school level than in college. However, NO ONE should be put through this crazyness!

Eirene_DGP · #7 11-02-2001, 05:18 PM

The thing is the school had it ON the calendar as a regular event like any other planned fun activity. I said I wasn't sure if it was hazing simply because it was a Planned activity. I think if the school did not do it as an annual event and the upperclassmen just did it on their own, it would be worse.

justamom · #8 11-03-2001, 10:28 AM

Kansas-Freshmen were picked up in their PJ's and served breakfast by the upper classmen. We were allowed to change into regular school clothes.

Texas Freshmen (I was a Soph) had to hold marrichino cherries in their palm and ask the athletes to "Please take my cherry"

La. Freshmen STUCO had to wear baby bonnets and pacifiers all day/one day.

In Kansas and La. everyone looked forward to the ritual. It brought attention to them and in La., they liked being recognized as STUCO. Maybe the girls in Tx liked that type of attention, but I thought it was horrid.

SHfox21 · #9 11-04-2001, 10:34 PM

The football cheerleaders in my high school were well known for their initation rituals. Seniors called "new girl practices" where the new girls would have to do whatever the seniors wanted and they had a "Sex Cheer" night for the senior members of the football team. This was in addition to being tied up and having stuff poured on them (my sister was doused in baby oil!) at cheerleading camp!

G8Ralphaxi · #10 11-08-2001, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by justamom
La. Freshmen STUCO had to wear baby bonnets and pacifiers all day/one day.

In Kansas and La. everyone looked forward to the ritual. It brought attention to them and in La., they liked being recognized as STUCO. Maybe the girls in Tx liked that type of attention, but I thought it was horrid.

maybe a dumb question...but what does STUCO mean?

mmcat · #11 11-09-2001, 12:34 AM

unless things change between your state and texas, stuco is student council.
mmcat

justamom · #12 11-09-2001, 08:53 AM

mmcat is correct.

ladybug1116 · #13 11-09-2001, 08:08 PM

Our high school Anchor and Key clubs were the same way. For Anchors (all female) only the most elite girls were allowed in and the girls (not the faculty--as it was advertised throughout the school) voted on the new members. "Initiation" included being forced to go all over town one afternoon after school in RIDCULOUS (sometimes scandalous) outfits making a public fool of yourself. Some stuff was really crude. The following day the girls were met at their house by their "big sis" and wore their Anchor jersey and whatever other clothing items the big sis wanted. They were not allowed to wear makeup and often had stuff written all over their bodies. Whenever the "pledges" saw a member that day they had get on their knees and recite some poem about how they were "peons" and "striving to sail their way to (i don't remember the word)" Girls also had to do whatever the members said all day...some people even made them lick food off of the floor

Key club was even worse....the guys were dressed in drag and always had mustard and ketchup and vinegar and egg smashed on their bodies. Then they had to come to school like this!!! It was really unfortunate to have to sit by one of these guys because by the end of the day they were smelling pretty ripe. Later on they went to initiation at someone's lake house...consisted of getting drunk and being paddled.
The administration never thought this was of concern. And I only graduated high school 5 years ago...
Lovely, don't ya think??

justamom · #14 11-11-2001, 07:33 AM

Key Club made them do that!!! My daughter was a Regional officer for 13 districts, (Might be wrong on the number of districts) and my son has been a member for the past 2 years. The gentleman who runs the whole program would be moritfied if he heard this. At every convention, he goes so far as to sit his regional and district officers down and "review" how to eat at a head table, focusing on every detail from how to place your feet(in case there wasn't a long table cloth) to how to get out of chair.

When our HS hosted convention, the officers and members were briefed on the decorum demanded of them as members. Your school's administration was really off the mark on this one and those officers need to spend a month or two with "Mr. Phill"!

ChaosDST · #15 11-15-2001, 12:02 PM

Actually, hazing is a big part of almost EVERYTHING. There is hazing and/or rites of passage (whatever folks feel like calling it) in the military, EVERY sports team, etc. Highschool hazing is sports teams and highschool sororities is just another aspect of it.