Pre colligeate hazing

[sugar and spice]

I think the major reason that most schools don't "do away" with this kind of thing is because they know that at least if they sanction it they can impose some sorts of limits. Like what happened at GBN, once the school outlaws the "tradition" they have no control over it and it usually just continues in other, generally worse forms outside of school.

My school had a "freshman trash day" that had, in the past, consisted of some really bad stuff. By the time I got there it was pretty much harmless (freshman getting markered up and/or taped to things, as opposed to in the past when getting beat up or put in trash cans and rolled down the stairs was apparently common). The administration had tried to put a stop to the whole thing and in theory, anybody getting caught doing the trashing was supposed to be suspended. But they knew if they did any hardcore cracking down on it, it would just end up moving outside of school and probably getting worse.

[Kevin]

There were two clubs at my HS that hazed. Unfortunately, you were a de facto member as a student. For men, it was the Men's Club for the ladies, they had Pep Club (I went to a Catholic HS as well).

There was a hell week for each group. The Pep Clubbers had to come to school with their faces painted like dalmations, wear 6 pony tails, white t-shirts, I think some kind of skirt, and something with their shoes and socks that I have forgotten now. On Friday of that week, they were required to get the signatures of 20 seniors on those white t-shirts. The Seniors could request anything for those signatures (mostly just running up and down halls yelling how great the senior was). At the end of the day there was an assembly which was basically where a select few of these freshmen women participated in things like pie eating (or maybe it was jello eating contests).

Funny thing was -- that was the only thing that the Pep Club really did all year

Men's Club was similar. There was a similar hell week and we had the t-shirt thing as well. Men's club was suspended for one year when the Seniors took a bunch of freshmen out to a place where everyone went to drink/get high. The freshmen boys ended up getting liquored up and the seniors had them running in a big naked circle among other things that night. No one got in serious trouble over it though (yes, hazing is illegal in our state).

There were also a number of standing traditions. For example, the school seal which resided at the cross between the halls which housed the junior and senior class lockers was sacred. If anyone but a senior stepped on the seal, they had to kiss it -- this was passed on by students and administration alike.

To my knowledge, very few students declined to participate in these activities. I was the only one that I can remember in my class that declined to participate in the men's club initiation activites (I just waited and joined it my sophomore year, sans hazing ).

[AGDee]

Originally posted by crzychx
And if what I went through was demeaning or demoralizing in any way there wouldn't be such a large push to join Reveler. Reveler is so popular because it is a wonderful, fun organization. Its fun. Sometimes its fun to laugh at yourself w/ others. Its good for the soul. At least no one was physically hurt in my chapter-we took good care of each other, I doubt I'll ever make better friends (except my Sigma K's of course)!

Making me go a week without shaving my legs and without wearing makeup, while in highschool, would have horrified me! I do think being covered in sticky foods is demeaning and demoralizing also.

It frightens me that hazing is beginning in high school and I think that it increases the risk of hazing in college sororities because these women have already developed hazing attitudes.

The worst thing that occurred in my highschool was that the first day, some of the senior class put up signs that said "All Sophomores Report to the Gym" all over the school (we didn't have freshmen, it was grades 10-12) and all the Sophomores did it.

Dee

[_Lisa_]

Originally posted by AGDee
Making me go a week without shaving my legs and without wearing makeup, while in highschool, would have horrified me! I do think being covered in sticky foods is demeaning and demoralizing also.

It was really only a week! And its not like you didn't have 30 other girls to complain & bitch about it with! People who are on the same level & understand whats going on! People who won't judge you because of your hairy legs & baggy eyes! It was great! And please don't get the idea that they were cruel when during Confession, it was really a lot of fun! Everyone had a few laughs & got a little sticky w/ chocolate! Even the parents of pledges were there to help us clean off afterwards! My parents had to lay a garbage bag down in the backseat of our car before they would let me in!!!

Originally posted by AGDee
It frightens me that hazing is beginning in high school and I think that it increases the risk of hazing in college sororities because these women have already developed hazing attitudes.

I definitely understand this. Innocent fun hazing can be fueled by anger or hatred. I'm glad I never had to experience it & I'm sorry for those that have. I would have never joined an organization that made me feel like less of a human being.

Originally posted by AGDee
The worst thing that occurred in my highschool was that the first day, some of the senior class put up signs that said "All Sophomores Report to the Gym" all over the school (we didn't have freshmen, it was grades 10-12) and all the Sophomores did it. Dee

My freshman year of high school someone tried to sell me a ticket to the elevator & to the pool on the third floor. We did have an elevator & we did have a third floor so I almost fell for it-thank God I had some friends (Revelers of course) to help warn me of the "usual" high school pranks.

[Lady Pi Phi]

The problem with my highscool initiation (and many other highschools in Toronto) was that you didn't have a choice. You were targeted simply because you were in grade 9. You couldn't decline to participate because you weren't joing a club, you were starting highschool. Most kids that said no, were hunted down and "initiated" anyway...that's why it got so bad. I'm glad the administration finally decided to something about it.

[OtterXO]

My high school basically had a greek system except they were service clubs. On my campus there were 3 girls clubs and 2 boys clubs. We had 'tryouts' (rush) where girls would come to events and on the last day, (before they were even in the club!!!) we had this big day of events. There was an obstacle course with mud wrestling, flour in the hair, eggs and sundaes on the head, dog food bath, sardines in socks, etc. etc. It was horrible! And then they were blindfolded and asked questions in front of the whole club. Then if you 'made it' you were picked up at 6am and dressed silly and taken to school. I never realized how illegal all this activity was until I got to college! If we had done this in college we would have gotten our charter yanked in a second!

[GPhiLlama]

I was in a high school sorority-Cotillion. We got nasty hazed-one girl even got bleach in her eyes!

[momoftwo]

To illustrate just how hard it is to break these high school hazing cycles, here's an update from Northbrook, IL.

The district has looked at all of the student activity traditions and suggested that certain traditions be dropped, because they could lead the participants down a proverbial slippery slope. One of these traditions is TPing the homes of swim team members before big meets. The school said don't TP, chalk the sidewalk or make posters/banners instead.

So what happened, the swim team PARENTS (and a IHSA swimming referee) went out and TPed the houses. Apparently the parents liked the attention they got when it was apparent to the community that their child is a star!

There are rumours that powder puff is planned for prom weekend in Lake Geneva, WI. Even with all the negative publicity, arrests and convictions, it's really hard to stop this stuff once it gets started.

[concerned451]

hi everyone, right now i'm looking to possibly join a sorority next fall, not sure though, and i'm definitely concerned about hazing.
i know that some really ugly things do occur and i'm of the opinion, stated in this thread by others, that when the hazing mentality begins in HS it DOES carry over into university level. i unfortunately know people who are living proof of this.

my HS has freshman initiation day and the stuff that the senior girls do is even more disgusting than the boys. i went to it this year although i didn't participate, that is, i didn't do anything to anyone, but i do feel guilt for not doing anything at all, if you know what i mean. it's a bad situation to be in, wanting to speak up or do something and feeling like you're the only one who see's something seriously wrong with it. what makes it so frustrating is that everyone knows about it, every year some people get a slap on the wrist for doing things that SHOULD warrant criminal charges and imo, intensive psychotherapy! i didn't go to my school until my junior year but you hear about what happened to who and so forth, and when i went this year i couldn't believe what goes on even though beforehand people were saying that it's not all that bad - yeah, right! i ended up losing friends and parting ways with some girls i know because i was so freaked out by what they did.
it's pretty much the same kind of stuff that happens at glenbrook, il except they make different competitions out of girls eating and drinking disgusting things, and yes, i mean DISGUSTING, ok?
lots of people refer to it as "yak day" because there is quite a bit of throwing up involved and licking certain body parts. those girls are degraded bigtime, that's the only point of it but the ones who willingly go along with it, even if they're totally grossed out, are accepted and some of them go on to be in the popular clique. all of this goes on as most of the senior girls laugh their asses off and say cruel things to them. do you really think that people like that are going to suddenly change the way they are by the next year when they go to college? not exactly.

everyone knows about it, there are freshman girls who actually look foward to it(!!!???)and especially this year people were really hush hush about where and when because of the glenbrook powder puff getting into the news. a few parents complained to the school but it's like no one wants the publicity and they don't want to have to explain why it is they raised a daughter who would either do something so horrible to another person or why their daughter would volunteer to go through it. they can either show up or not, but some of the freshman who avoid it are outcasts, some of them end up getting picked on and beaten up, or in a few cases, they'll later submit to being hazed at a party or something which is usually worse because it's a smaller group with no one watching. and yes, i know of some local sorority hazing that goes on that is pretty much in direct relation to what they do at freshman initiation. some of the seniors even justify their attitude about it because of that.

so yeah, i had my eyes opened this year and really had to look at people that i thought i knew in a different light, and that includes some sororities. some people apparently have no conscience at all, and it makes me cringe to read some of these hazing examples in this thread because it's ridiculous to think that people who don't have any problem mistreating people at the HS senior level are going to stop being that way when they get to college. even if some hazing doesn't go too far, it's demeaning and only exists so that some people can feel as though they're ABOVE other people, they get off on it and it really sucks. show me any hazing initiation that goes on regularly, even if it seems innocent, and i'll show you people who have been hurt, emotionally and/or physically, or, it's only a matter of time in that type of sadistic atmosphere when people will get hurt. and to think that these sicko's do this crap for fun!? sometimes i simply do not understand the things people value. ugh! all and every type of hazing needs to stop, but if there's always people who want it happen, there will always be those who do it or choose to have it done to them. why? IGNORANCE

[concerned451]

Originally posted by momoftwo
There are rumours that powder puff is planned for prom weekend in Lake Geneva, WI. Even with all the negative publicity, arrests and convictions, it's really hard to stop this stuff once it gets started.

exactly how something so absurdly gross and demeaning is established in tradition is beyond me. they'll do it again this year i'm sure and probably not get caught, but if they do, gee, what happens? nothing. that's what. those powder puff seniors didn't have any problems aside from public exposure, they were allowed to graduate, it didn't go into their school transcripts, and no appropriate criminal charges were filed for shooting girls point blank with a pellet gun, hitting some in the head with baseball bats, and making them drink paint thinner and eat poo. it's unbelievable that people actually have fun doing this crap unless they're just too screwed up to know any better. btw, those glenbrook girls have been using poo, urine and vomit since 1990, there was an article in the chicago tribune a long time ago after it was in the news, and other women who had been involved with it in years past came foward and admitted that it's been going on like that for a long time, doing away with the idea that the incident that had been shown on the news was any different than what was the usual, and the false concept that those junior girls didn't know exactly what they were getting into.

[_Lisa_]

Originally posted by concerned451
hi everyone, right now i'm looking to possibly join a sorority next fall, not sure though, and i'm definitely concerned about hazing.

I hope that when you do rush you don't experience any hazing! I know that when I pledge Sigma K I was treated like a princess. Most of my friends (that didn't join a sorority) wouldn't even believe me when I said I wasn't hazed! Just keep in mind that college is nothing like high school, if you are hazed-do something about it!!!

[Tom Earp]

HAZING SUCKS! PERIOD!

I was a member of a High School Fraternity, we called them Literary Societys! No Hazing!

When I was a Freshman at NWMSU, they had Frosh Hazing!

Well because of something that happened to me, There is No Longer Frosh Hazing! This was 1960!

WELL BECAUSE OF WHAT I WAS PUT THROUGH AND WHAT I STARTED AND DID it was changed

There is no damn place for it! That is All!

[concerned451]

"GBS athletes' hazing probed
Teens say varsity lacrosse players welcomed new team members with a paddle

BY SARA LOEB AND LYNNE STIEFEL
STAFF WRITER

Glenbrook South High School officials have canceled varsity lacrosse practice while they investigate whether paddle-wielding veteran players initiated new team members with a swat.

Superintendent Dave Hales confirmed Tuesday afternoon that "an incident is under investigation involving the varsity lacrosse team," although he declined to provide further details "because we're still investigating and don't have complete information."

What some students described as a paddling incident took place "maybe a few days" before the beginning of spring break on March 20, according to a current varsity lacrosse player, who asked not to be named.

A former Glenbrook South lacrosse player, who also asked not to be identified, said he was told the incident occurred at a private residence.

That former player said it has been a tradition for years for returning Glenbrook South varsity lacrosse players to swat players newly named to the varsity squad with a paddle. He said similar paddling also occurs at other area high schools, including Glenbrook North, New Trier and Loyola Academy, and other sports teams have similar traditions.

"It has happened every single year for every team at every school I can think of," the student said. "The reason it's being blown out of proportion is because of the Glenbrook North (powder puff) scandal. If it wasn't for that, there would be no media involved and no repercussions."

But, the former player said, Glenbrook South football and hockey teams canceled their paddling tradition this school year in light of the district administration's anti-hazing policy. That policy now specifically states it applies to events both on campus and off.

A Glenbrook South junior who plays lacrosse said Tuesday the paddled students "weren't hurt." No one sought medical attention, she said. "They're all friends, and it's something that they do," said the girl, who asked not to be named.

The boys' varsity lacrosse team didn't practice on Monday or Tuesday, said Glenbrook South Principal David Smith, who refused to say when or how school officials got word of the incident. Smith said administrators are deciding on a daily basis whether to let the varsity team practice.

Hales and Smith also declined to say how many students school officials are interviewing. They are informing the school's police liaison officer of their findings, Hales said, but as of Tuesday afternoon, police weren't involved in the investigation. Smith said he hopes to have the investigation complete "by the end of the week."

If school officials determine the students engaged in hazing, they will be able to turn to more explicit policies put in place after the May 4 "powder puff" incident in Chipilly Woods, which involved more than 100 Glenbrook North students.

During the hazing, Glenbrook North seniors pelted juniors with animal parts, vomit and feces, and punched and kicked them. At least five juniors sought medical attention for their injuries.

The Glenbrook High School District 225 Board expelled 33 seniors and suspended 20 juniors for participating in the hazing. Fifteen Glenbrook North seniors were charged with battery, and two adult women were arrested for providing alcohol for the hazing. The School Board last summer approved changes that make it clear students at either high school can be disciplined for violating school rules at "any event having a nexus with the school."

The handbooks at both Glenbrook South and Glenbrook North include new language specifying that hazing is prohibited "on or off" campus.

Hazing, according to the handbooks, includes "verbal or physical harassment, mental or physical discomfort, intimidation, embarrassment, ridicule, bullying, or demeaning activity..."

Hales said he'll be disappointed if the school's investigation confirms that students were hazing others, given the district's efforts to raise awareness after last May's incident.

"It's absolutely obvious that the school district has made an effort to have students understand how to treat each other," he said Tuesday.

He noted the Northbrook/Glenview Hazing Advisory Task Force brought together administrators and teachers from schools in both towns, to recommend ways to prevent future incidents similar to the powder puff hazing.

Several Glenbrook South students buying lunch at a local McDonald's on Tuesday said they'd heard about the incident from friends on the lacrosse team. They said they didn't think it would be fair to compare paddling to the abuse endured by the Glenbrook North "powder puff" participants.

"It's not a big deal," said junior Ingrid Swanson. "It's not like the hazing. They just got paddled." Lacrosse was added as a club sport at Glenbrook South, with freshman, junior varsity and varsity levels, beginning in the 1999-2000 school year. That designation brought the then-7-year-old Glenbrook South Lacrosse Club under the school's auspices.

Established in 1993 by parents as a non-profit entity, the club had been governed by bylaws, run by volunteer parents and self-funded via participants' fees, donations and fund-raising activities.

The parents lobbied the Glenbrook High School District 225 Board for several years to recognize the sport, so that it could be administered through the athletic department.

Board members at that time expressed concern about incurring the annual cost of running and staffing another sport, and wondered if they would be justified in doing so in response to a vocal parents group.

Others on the board, though, thought school officials had presented a demonstrated need to fund this sport as well as water polo, which also became a school sport then, by surveying student interest.

In 2000, the Glenbrook South Lacrosse team won the state championship."

it's sad that when this stuff is in the news and people are like "oh my god" when the students know it goes on all the time. also, paddlings are nothing new at powder puff either.

[LXAAlum]

That former player said it has been a tradition for years for returning Glenbrook South varsity lacrosse players to swat players newly named to the varsity squad with a paddle. He said similar paddling also occurs at other area high schools, including Glenbrook North, New Trier and Loyola Academy, and other sports teams have similar traditions.

"It has happened every single year for every team at every school I can think of," the student said. "The reason it's being blown out of proportion is because of the Glenbrook North (powder puff) scandal. If it wasn't for that, there would be no media involved and no repercussions."


Ahhhhh....tradition. Still the DUMBEST yet most often used EXCUSE to allow the abuse of people who are supposed to be your "teammates"...

Thank God the Glenbrook story DID break - otherwise, it may have been THIS team that it broke upon...

[concerned451]

"It's not a big deal," said junior Ingrid Swanson. "It's not like the hazing. They just got paddled."

gee, sound familair? remember that infamous news clip of the gbn senior when she said about powderpuff "so some girl got her head cracked open, it's not like she's dead, it's no big deal"

i've experienced this kind of attitude and it's really quite startling how someone can be what you consider normal, and if they got hurt or if someone they knew got hurt or hazed, they'd be pissed and upset, but as long as it applies to tradition and someone else, someone they perceive as not being on "their side" or their "team", then suddenly they have no conscience or morals about what happens, or even worse, they condone it and laugh about it.