New California Law

[Goldenphoenix]

Please check out this "Trust Fall" video - the first young woman, especially. She's terrified and winds up weeping afterward. Had this been a GLO, the "hazing story" would have been splashed all over front pages of newspapers across the country. But since it's just a religious youth group, nothing happens. Talk about a double standard with respect to hazing and GLOs....
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wH_iySii-E0

- goldenphoenix

[AnatraAmore]

I don't think I get the whole point of that activity... they're supposed to fall?

[jon1856]

Originally Posted by Goldenphoenix

Please check out this "Trust Fall" video - the first young woman, especially. She's terrified and winds up weeping afterward. Had this been a GLO, the "hazing story" would have been splashed all over front pages of newspapers across the country. But since it's just a religious youth group, nothing happens. Talk about a double standard with respect to hazing and GLOs....
http://youtube.com/watch?v=wH_iySii-E0

- goldenphoenix

What kind of "trust" is this??????
I thought it was all about catching a person, not causing them to fall AND not catching them.

"Trust" G-D that they will not get hurt????

And you are very correct in your thoughts.

GLO's can be very easy targets for anyone looking to make one. We are International/National groups.

If Williams' Dorm has a fire that injuries and/or kills students it will make at least regional news. Any other problem may not even make local news.

A GLO chapter has National coverage.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by jon1856

What kind of "trust" is this??????
I thought it was all about catching a person, not causing them to fall AND not catching them.

And you are very correct in your thoughts.

GLO's can be very easy targets for anyone looking to make one. We are International/National groups.

If Williams' Dorm has a fire that injuries and/or kills students it will make at least regional news. Any other problem may not even make local news.

A GLO chapter has National coverage.

I didn't watch it with audio, so maybe more is explained, but maybe they are told they are falling from a great height?

Anybody know the deal?

[PsychTau2]

In the explanation for the video, it says that the members of the youth group were told they were five feet off the ground when they were only three inches off the ground. And I have no idea why the let her fall like that...looks like she came close to whacking her head on the ground.

Regarding the California law,

(3) "School organization" means any club, society, fraternity, sorority, or a group living together which has students as its principal members.

That sounds like it could exclude athletic teams, no? Teams don't always live together, and they possibly could argue that they aren't a "club" or "society" because they don't have a constitution/bylaws/etc.

I'm no lawyer, so I could be wrong. That just kind of stuck out at me.

PsychTau

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by PsychTau2

In the explanation for the video, it says that the members of the youth group were told they were five feet off the ground when they were only three inches off the ground. And I have no idea why the let her fall like that...looks like she came close to whacking her head on the ground.

Regarding the California law,


That sounds like it could exclude athletic teams, no? Teams don't always live together, and they possibly could argue that they aren't a "club" or "society" because they don't have a constitution/bylaws/etc.

I'm no lawyer, so I could be wrong. That just kind of stuck out at me.

PsychTau

Some of the worst cases of high school hazing I've read about were sports teams, but you're right: it does leave them out.

Maybe they were afraid that it would set up hazing suits in instances that people were hurt at practice, especially try outs.

[Goldenphoenix]

The usual "trust fall" exercise involves people falling into the arms of others who catch them. Even though this was given the name of "trust fall," obviously they didn't catch her, obviously she could have gotten hurt, and obviously it scared her enormously. Change the scenario and have a GLO tell a pledge that they're 5 feet off the ground, then tip them off, and the accusations will fly. To my mind, either it's hazing or it's not, and it shouldn't depend upon whether the group you're with has Greek letters, is an athletic team, or is a religious-based youth group. Laws which target groups rather than specific, objectionable activities (regardless of what group performs them) are biased and unreasonable.
- goldenphoenix

[UGAalum94]

But I don't think we should expand the definition of "hazing" to include anything stupid or harmful a group might do.

"Hazing" as a term should cover physically harmful (or potentially physically harmful) or intentionally humiliating things that people are forced to do to pursue full membership in a group.

We should have other names and other legal definitions for all the other harmful things that groups might do to people under different circumstances.
Assault? Harassment? Negligence?

I just object to the over-application of the word "hazing." Everything bad doesn't have to be called hazing.

The girl in the video may have been victimized but I wouldn't call it hazing. (Was she in danger of being kicked out of youth group if she didn't do it?)

Personally, I think most of the sort of false-risk, trust-building stuff is a load of junk anyway.