High school hazing on The Early Show - Page 10

AlphaSigOU · #**136** 05-09-2003, 01:55 AM

Here's the Illinois hazing law (source: www.stophazing.org):

Quote:

Illinois Hazing Law

§ 720 ILCS 120/0.01. Short title

Sec. 0.01. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Hazing Act.

§ 720 ILCS 120/5. Hazing

Sec. 5. Hazing. A person commits hazing who knowingly requires the performance of any act by a student or other person in a school, college, university, or other educational institution of this State, for the purpose of induction or admission into any group, organization, or society associated or connected with that institution if:

(a) the act is not sanctioned or authorized by that educational institution; and

(b) the act results in bodily harm to any person.

§ 720 ILCS 120/10. Sentence

Sec. 10. Sentence. Hazing is a Class A misdemeanor, except hazing that results in death or great bodily harm is a Class 4 felony.

Kevin · #**137** 05-09-2003, 08:46 AM

Oklahoma Law:
§21-1190.

§21-1190.

A. No student organization or any person associated with any
organization sanctioned or authorized by the governing board of any
public or private school or institution of higher education in this
state shall engage or participate in hazing.

B. Any hazing activity described in subsection F of this section upon
which the initiation or admission into or affiliation with an
organization sanctioned or authorized by a public or private school or
by any institution of higher education in this state is directly or
indirectly conditioned shall be presumed to be a forced activity, even
if the student willingly participates in such activity.

C. A copy of the policy or the rules and regulations of the public or
private school or institution of higher education which prohibits
hazing shall be given to each student enrolled in the school or
institution and shall be deemed to be part of the bylaws of all
organizations operating at the public school or the institution of
higher education.

D. Any organization sanctioned or authorized by the governing board of
a public or private school or of an institution of higher education in
this state which violates subsection A of this section, upon
conviction, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and may be punishable by
a fine of not more than One Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($1,500.00)
and the forfeit for a period of not less than one (1) year all of the
rights and privileges of being an organization organized or operating
at the public or private school or at the institution of higher
education.

E. Any individual convicted of violating the provisions of subsection
A of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and may be
punishable by imprisonment for not to exceed ninety (90) days in the
county jail, or by the imposition of a fine not to exceed Five Hundred
Dollars ($500.00), or by both such imprisonment and fine.

F. For purposes of this section:

1. "Hazing" means an activity which recklessly or intentionally
endangers the mental health or physical health or safety of a student
for the purpose of initiation or admission into or affiliation with
any organization operating subject to the sanction of the public or
private school or of any institution of higher education in this
state;

2. "Endanger the physical health" shall include but not be limited to
any brutality of a physical nature, such as whipping, beating,
branding, forced calisthenics, exposure to the elements, forced
consumption of any food, alcoholic beverage as defined in Section 506
of Title 37 of the Oklahoma Statutes, low-point beer as defined in
Section 163.2 of Title 37 of the Oklahoma Statutes, drug, controlled
dangerous substance, or other substance, or any other forced physical
activity which could adversely affect the physical health or safety of
the individual; and

3. "Endanger the mental health" shall include any activity, except
those activities authorized by law, which would subject the individual
to extreme mental stress, such as prolonged sleep deprivation, forced
prolonged exclusion from social contact, forced conduct which could
result in extreme embarrassment, or any other forced activity which
could adversely affect the mental health or dignity of the individual.

AXJules · #**138** 05-09-2003, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DeltaBetaBaby
This is what the rumormill has to say right now:

1. These students can not participate in school functions for the rest of the year, but will graduate as scheduled, and participate in commencement.

2. Several of these girls are worried about having their college acceptances revoked. An Illinois state school can't do this AFAIK, but they could lose financial aid.

3. Five people videotaped the event. Four tapes were destroyed, and the fifth was sold to the media by a participant.

I spoke to a couple of my friends last night- so far one girl has been taken off the volleyball team and another removed from track and field- and they were both victims.

Also, there either has to be more tapes or less that were destroyed b/c there's 2 that are circulating right now. (One is of a much better quality than the other.)

And as far as not getting beaten up when you're big's lil sis was asked to play, thats' awesome. Seriously that's great, it is cool that she did was she thought was right and everything was fine. She probably was invited b/c her friends were and the seniors liked her.
But last year my neighbor had been cattily fighting with a senior during the school year, and I came home from college to see her with a black eye. She had said 'no' as well b/c she knew the girl that invited her didn't like her.

AXJules · #**139** 05-09-2003, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DeltAlum

This school, apparantely is one of real excellence, (By the way, who rates a school #3 or whatever, by the way, and what are the criteria. I suspect that a lot of schools think they're in the "top ten," whatever that means. The biggest school in our district had 43 National Merit Scholars last year and has over 90 state athletic championships -- does that put it in the "top ten" Sorry, I digress.).

Ratings are done by Newsweek and USA Today, and any of those magazine/newspapers that do the top 100 HS...There is an organization thats in charge of it that comes to check out our school every year but I can't remember the name...

Every school has to submit their statistics every year to the govt...besides state awards in sports, grades are really difficult at GBN- I graduated with a 3.6 and I was only barely in the top 40% of my class of 480 people. They rank you on the facility you use, # of computers per child, ratings of teachers, etc..

Also, about transferring...I live in unincorporated Northbrook, practically Glenview which is where our sister hs is, Glenbrook South. I would have had to pay out of district fees to go there, even though its 4 minutes from my house. GBN is almost 20. You have to petition to the glenbrook township board...transferring to GBS (which is the only option as far as a cheap transfer) is going to be impossible b/c the school is really overcrowded.
My parents looked into sending me to a neighboring HS before my fresh. year so I could be with my friends....but it was $3000 a year. And its public.

LXAAlum · #**140** 05-09-2003, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DeltAlum
Some thoughts.

What is striking about this story to me is how easily an allegedly "traditional" hazing ritual can so suddenly go terribly wrong. That's why I feel that there should be NO hazing. At all.

Think that potentially deadly senario couldn't have happened with all of the people around? Then why didn't people -- as a group -- step in? Maybe one person would have gotten beaten up if he/she tried to intercede -- but not if the group decided enough is enough. So, why didn't they? Ever read Lord of the Flies?

I find it difficult to find any reasonable explaination for this.

I was thinking about this last night, and I also saw a sociologist get interviewed on FoxNews this morning, and, from the sociological perspective, there is a reasonable explanation...

This unfortunate incident can be demonstrated as a textbook example of Groupthink (Irving Janis' theory of how groups can make bizarre decisions). Other examples: Challenger, Bay of Pigs, Watergate.

If you have taken a sociology, psychology, or group/organizational communication class, you probably studied this theory. If you haven't, read about it - it happens more often than we like to think, and, the textbooks/journal articles all have suggestions on how to avoid it.

Here is some information I pulled off a website dedicated to group communication studies. Look this over carefully:

Groupthink

Groupthink is a concept that was identified by Irving Janis that refers to faulty decision-making in a group. Groups experiencing groupthink do not consider all alternatives and they desire unanimity at the expense of quality decisions. Learn more about groupthink and then complete the interactive exercise at the end of the discussion.

Conditions Groupthink occurs when groups are highly cohesive and when they are under considerable pressure to make a quality decision.

Negative outcomes
Some negative outcomes of groupthink include:

Examining few alternatives
Not being critical of each other's ideas
Not examining early alternatives
Not seeking expert opinion
Being highly selective in gathering information
Not having contingency plans

Symptoms
Some symptoms of groupthink are:

Having an illusion of invulnerability
Rationalizing poor decisions ("Tradition, anyone?")
Believing in the group's morality ("It can't happen to us!")
Sharing stereotypes which guide the decision (Tradition again!)
Exercising direct pressure on others (The forms the juniors had to sign - keeping this event secret up until it occurs - hey, it's only the COOL kids that get invited)

Not expressing your true feelings
Maintaining an illusion of unanimity
Using mindguards to protect the group from negative information

Solutions
Some solutions include:
Using a policy-forming group which reports to the larger group
Having leaders remain impartial
Using different policy groups for different tasks
Dividing into groups and then discuss differences
Discussing within sub-groups and then report back
Using outside experts
Using a Devil's advocate to question all the group's ideas
Holding a "second-chance meeting" to offer one last opportunity to choose another course of action

That "Devil's advocate" is particularly important. Most undergrad GLO's sometimes (not always) see the chapter advisor, or headquarters, or consultants as the "devil's advocate". Questioning the groups ideas is key - it's the fresh perspective, a pair of unbiased eyes, that many times can help avoid a catastrophe.

This is something I used to recommend to the chapter I used to advise - it's painful - having to confront reality sometimes in the face of bad ideas, but it does have it's payoffs. I urge all of you to give this serious consideration.

DeltAlum · #**141** 05-09-2003, 12:51 PM

LXA,

Yup!

ZTAMiami · #**142** 05-09-2003, 03:46 PM

http://www.foxnews.com/

FeeFee · #**143** 05-09-2003, 04:59 PM

LXA,
I learned about this phenomenon last week in my Social Psychology class. Pretty frightening stuff. I'm quite sure then, that you are well aware of cognitive dissonance, using external and internal justifications, and derogation of the victims. I bet all of these people involved are/will experience either one or all of these mentioned.

Sometimes a person can get "lost in the crowd" and do things that are otherwise unimaginable. When you do things as part of a group, the chances of being picked out are smaller than if an act was done alone.

Pretty messed up situation. Hopefully criminal charges will be brought up against those girls.

VirtuousErudite · #**144** 05-10-2003, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by AXJules
[B]I spoke to a couple of my friends last night- so far one girl has been taken off the volleyball team and another removed from track and field- and they were both victims.

Also, there either has to be more tapes or less that were destroyed b/c there's 2 that are circulating right now. (One is of a much better quality than the other.)

And as far as not getting beaten up when you're big's lil sis was asked to play, thats' awesome. Seriously that's great, it is cool that she did was she thought was right and everything was fine. She probably was invited b/c her friends were and the seniors liked her.
But last year my neighbor had been cattily fighting with a senior during the school year, and I came home from college to see her with a black eye. She had said 'no' as well b/c she knew the girl that invited her didn't like her.

Did your neighbor call the police and file assault charges??? I'm really confused about why these girls think they can go to someone's home and attack them without any consequences. A school yard fight is one thing but going to a person's home to attack them is another. I don't understand the type of community that would allow this to go on without repercusions. I'm just confused. If ANYONE had come to my home with the purpose of beating me up my mother would have been on the phone to the police in seconds.

AXJules · #**145** 05-10-2003, 06:58 PM

They didn't like, come in her house and assault her. The girl and 2 of her friends showed up at a party they heard *Lindsay* (not her name) was going to be at.

It's not like our community is ruled by people who come to your house and assault you. Obviously she didn't tell anybody about it, hence her mom didn't file charges. I guess I don't see it being that much different from any other fight taking place after school (not PP, but this thing w/ my neighbor). She felt like it was her own fault for not going (not condoning this, just relaying what she told me). And this isn't the norm, I mean these were two trashy girls who pretty much got into a regular schoolyard fight at a party. The only difference was that since she didn't go to PP, she had 2 girls going at her instead of one.

I have had quite a few of you pmming me and asking me why I'm sticking up for these girls. I am SO not. I don't know how to explain that the ones that turn things physical are the 2 or 3 trashy ones in a grade of 500. (This year is a horrible exception.) Usually if someone asked you to come that didn't like you she'd be a lil rougher putting food in your hair.
I always thought it was stupid, although everyone had fun the two years my grade was involved. I hope these girls are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Obviously I hope it doesn't continue anymore. And I don't think it's financially related- hazing happens in all classes, some people go INSANE and have no morals whether they have money or not. I am more concerned now with my friends that were hurt, and supporting the 95% of the school that was not involved. Its not easy on anyone, and given what he can do within the law, I think Dr. Riggle has done everything he can. I can remember sitting in his office the weekend ours was going to happen, as he called the police and told them PP was nearing. (Obviously I couldn't tell him where b/c I didn't know.) He has always cared and done as much as he could. Maybe you'll just have to take my word for that, you can analyze tapes and replay the press conference over and over but I will always know him better than all of you. I mean he isn't God. He can't give police information that he doesn't have. I think he has handled this pretty well, what with being open with the media and encouraging prosecution of the girls. In order for suspension to occur, Glenbrook district policy would have to be rewritten and that is in the hands of the school board and Dr. Hale, not Principle Riggle.

Anyway my intention was not to come in here and stand up for anyone that did something reprehensible. I just wanted accurate information to be used. And you can use whichever hazing laws you want, you can say what should or shouldn't have happened....its not going to change what did. There are factors/relationships/situations that most of you will never know about unless you went to school there and knew these people. Therefore I'd rather see us talking about praying for the victims and what can be done in the future to prevent it, instead of bashing the school for being snobby and "probably not top 5." Rankings don't matter when someone behaves like a criminal. ( I realize I brought up the rankings 1st but it was because several people suggesting blackballing all girls from GBN and saying that they weren't surprised it happened at a school like GBN.)

Anyway please don't think I'm angry while writing this, I'm just really tired of it. Last nite I was at a party and some guy saw my GBN necklace. When I asked him for a ride home he asked me if I was going to make him eat shit if he didn't do it.

James · #**146** 05-10-2003, 08:13 PM

We should all thank Axjules for her honesty and the sharing of her experiences.

Her posts put her in the way of several people's anger as well as those pesky rolling eyes. . .

But certainly her posts gave more insight and history into the situation than we otherwise would have.

Thank you AxJules

DeltAlum · #**147** 05-10-2003, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by James
We should all thank Axjules for her honesty and the sharing of her experiences.

Thank you AxJules

Agreed.

It's not an easy position to be in.

Thanks.

Edited to add:

My parenthetical question about the "top three" was not meant to question whether your school was one of excellence. I simply have never understood how those "ratings" can be realistic without the rating agency visiting and evaluating every school in the nation. An impossible job, I think.

VirtuousErudite · #**148** 05-11-2003, 12:52 AM

I have a question for AXJules. How are the girls (seniors) involved responding to all of this? Are they apologetic, defensive???

AXJules · #**149** 05-11-2003, 02:56 PM

Well the media has done a pretty good job of choosing/editing quotes and video until it looks like all of the girls involved said "Hey at least she didn't die." I can't really say anything since I'm a journalism student, but that's the part I've always hated about the field.
Anyway, there's a lot of the PP video that shows senior girls who played AND spectators both who pulled/tackled girls who were being too rough. Many of the girls took them home and gave them showers and protected them from getting hurt further while it was going on.
Also, lots of the girls are remorseful. Most keep saying they didn't mean for it to get so out of hand, but they were afraid to do anything to stop it. Pretty much what I would expect from a bunch of HS girls with the whole "follow the crowd' mentality. One girl has told people that she's good friends with one of the girls that brought the fecal garbage, and she didn't even know it was coming. She saw her friend turn into this scary maniac person and was scared to get in her way.
From what I've heard (and obviously this isn't for sure) the ones who haven't really shown any remorse are the 3 who were the most violent. They're just afraid of getting pulled from the colleges they got accepted to.
Essentially the 3 worst are continuing to show bad behavior, while stories are starting to come out about the 20 or so girls who did all they thought they could.

And by the way, thanks for the nice words. I don't want a medal, I just want a lil respect.

AXJules · #**150** 05-11-2003, 03:02 PM

Here's another good article that better explains what I was trying to say.

`Powder-puff' lacked more than football

Published May 10, 2003

One thing you don't see on the broadcast videos of the Glenbrook North High School powder-puff football game that got out of hand is a football.

I looked. Frame by frame in many cases, my finger on the pause button, as though they were so many Zapruder films, I studied the powder-puff images from a reported six home video cameras shown on news programs.

I saw pig intestines, pig meat, pig poop (perhaps), but no pigskin.

Evidently, the pretense that the hazing is the culmination of an actual game between senior and junior girls was discarded when participants found that sport interferes with drinking and ritual sadism.

The lack of a football symbolizes the disconnect between the revolting off-campus melee last Sunday and the senior girls vs. junior girls gridiron contest of the same name that was held on campus during homecoming week at GBN until 1979. After that year, the school discontinued the tradition because the game was getting too rough, so the "game" went underground.

School officials ought to have realized at some point over the last nearly quarter of a century that their surrender simply invited more trouble and so amounted to dereliction. They should have reintegrated powder-puff (under a new, post-Title IX name, of course) with other supervised events--allowed the seniors to douse the juniors with sanctioned slop and force feed them mock excrement under the same controlled conditions as a school dance or parade. After a closely refereed football game, of course.

Actually, though, I wasn't studying those tapes looking for a football. I was looking for good kids, stand-up kids, kids who saw things getting out of hand and intervened to help the hapless juniors when the harassment turned ugly and bloody.

I saw none among the spectators, mostly boys in oversized windbreakers with their hands in their pockets; the same sort of shrugging, inert nitwits as the witnesses interviewed later on TV, who said, "I wish I could have done something." And the varsity football player who was quoted in the Northbrook Star: "I thought maybe I should try to calm things down, but I thought, what gives me the right to control what other people want? Mob rule: If the majority wants to see people messed up, that's what they're going to have. Once it started getting dirty, I just kind of walked away."

All were failing one of life's key pop-quizzes, the one that goes like this:

You're in a situation, and it begins to turn. Teasing crosses into cruelty. Or a prank grows into a crime. Silly gossip edges into malicious slander. Roughhousing escalates into violence.

You didn't start it. You didn't ask for it. But right then, on the spot, you have to choose between doing and saying the right thing, which is hard, and doing and saying nothing, which is easy.

Everyone faces such tests from time to time, except they seldom involve fish guts and aren't replayed afterwards to clucking viewers worldwide. You see a friend shoplift. You're in a conversation in which others are trashing a colleague you admire. You come upon a stranger beating a child or a spouse.

No time for deliberation or consultation. No middle ground. Your instincts take over, and those instincts are what we know as character.

Oddly (and mark my words), a careful viewing of the tapes shows that some of the goo-tossing senior girls in yellow shirts passed the quiz. In one vivid snippet, super slow motion shows No. 96 tackling No. 3 and shoving her away to prevent her from administering closed-fist punches to a girl cowering in the muck with her arms over her head.

Other footage--which has received less air time than the scenes that recall the Batley Townswomen's Guild of brawling historical re-enactors from TV's Monty Python--shows senior girls escorting battered victims away from the fracas and attempting to comfort them.

When the full story of this powder-puff game finally comes out and the videotapes are shown in their entirety in court, it still won't feature a football. But it'll be far more nuanced than it is today.

The number of real villains--those who took the expected hazing too far and crossed the line between disgusting hijinks and vicious mayhem--will shrink. The good character of some of today's purported villains will emerge. And the innocence of the innocent bystanders will fade.