What is hazing? Recently, there were several news articles revolving a group of students at a local school who were involved in an incident that was about peeing on 2 students. This is an example of hazing. Hazing is any action taken or any situation created intentionally that causes humiliation, embarrassment, ridicule or harassment, with the intention to create emotional and/or physical harm to the victim, whether new or not, regardless of the person’s willingness to participate. A person can be consensual in the act of hazing but this does not justify the act of hazing. As mentioned, hazing is an act of derogatory behavior, trying to demean another of his/her identity and is considered bullying.
Examples of hazing practices
- Requirement to eat exotic/spicy/disgusting foods
- Forced activities for new recruits to ‘prove’ their worth to join
- Requirement to endure hardships such as staying awake, menial tasks, physical labor, star jumps, running while blindfolded, etc.
- Verbal humiliation of new members
- In extreme cases, beatings, or other physical abuses against new or potential members
How common is hazing?
Hazing occurs in many school activities in CCAs, sports teams, and clubs. It is often a part of the initiation process, to introduce new members as a rite into the community. Hazing is often about power and control, and may occur between seniors to juniors, or between peers deemed more highly ranked in the social hierarchy to someone less popular in the society. Hazing does not build unity. Some studies show that more than half of students in colleges and universities involved in clubs, sports teams and organizations have experienced some degree of hazing as part of their orientation.
Why hazing is not right?
Hazing may involve physical harm to a person and if it causes you physical harm, it is more than embarrassment that is the problem. For example, in some countries, hazing involves drinking excessive alcohol and getting to the point of drunkenness and stupor as an act of initiation into a club. However, excessive alcohol to the point of drunkenness is dangerous: people under the influence of alcohol may commit rash acts which may endanger their lives and those around them, e.g. drink-driving.
Hazing also demeans a person. A deregulatory act may seem to cause the perpetrator to exert influence, power and control over the other person, but it is an act that causes the victim to feel less of himself/herself as an individual. While some of the physical harm caused by hazing is already damaging to the body, the humiliation and feeling of subjugation does mental damage to a person through the fear of others, embarrassment, and is an act of bullying that should be called out.
When should I say no to hazing?
While there are different degrees of hazing, small acts like eating foods with extreme spiciness may cause temporal discomfort and momentarily embarrassment, it is the deregulatory acts like peeing on others that is extremely humiliating and should be called out. Students should identify when is an act that causes extreme physical harm and object to such acts primarily, however under peer pressure and fear of seniors, they may consent to such acts instead, despite their humiliating nature. As such, the best form of saying no to hazing is actually a build-up of good self esteem to be able to say no and object to such behaviour and walk away from it.
If one is unable to walk away from it, seek to find individuals of logic and higher authority to reason out the rationale behind the act. While confrontation with perpetrators of hazing action is contentious and may lead to social friction and undesirable outcomes, when one brings logic to the table, this usually causes people to think through the rationale of doing such acts blindly, and to acknowledge the lack of meaning in the activity and move to other forms of bonding which can help the community to bond as a whole.
Also, as one being inducted into a community, respect is commonly one of the key goals of norming in a group. Other healthy social activities such as dinners, watching movies can be suggested to help students bond and get to know one another better.
Seb Academy does not tolerate bullying, cyber bullying or hazing activities. We take a tough stance towards students who may perpetrate an act without understanding the rationale behind it. We seek to counsel the students involved, if there is any act of bullying involved, to help students grow together. Fostering relationships and mentorship is key, in addition to our Chemistry classes and building a cohesive, supportive environment helps students to learn better, and motivate one another towards academic excellence.
