hazing
In our society today, violence can hardly be ignored. Murder, rape, theft, and many other potentially violent crimes are committed like clockwork. Sad, enough, violence is in our human nature. As a young man, I can remember how cruel little kids, including myself, were. Senseless insults and physical abuse are almost normal growing up, no matter what your sex or economic and social background may be. It seems today that children know the concepts of hazing before they know what the word means. More specifically, hazing can be defined as "harassment by abusive and humiliating tricks" (The Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 327). Pinning down a fellow class-mate and giving him a "pink-belly", throwing an unsuspecting teammate in the showers and whipping him with towels are events that take place in crowds of young and the older daily. Hazing can be harmless or potentially deadly. In some cases, hazing seems to be traditional. Fraternities, athletic teams, all have found hazing a normal practice since they were established. A question that may be on one's mind is, "Where did hazing go wrong?" I will explain and give examples of hazing, where it has and does go wrong, and a call to action for violent hazing. Hazing seems apparent
Though the "idea" of hazing has been abused long before it became a public issue, it has most recently gone wrong in the past twenty years. "The increase began in the 1980's, and anecdotal evidence since then indicates the problem is escalating. Hazing often originates with sports teams, when members gang up on a teammate in a rite of initiation or to establish a pecking order, say those who track such incidents. Sometimes it involves attacks by upperclassmen on younger kids" (Fine, 3). Though hazing seems to be traditional in some cases, it is illegal. This act may "initiate" you into a "elite social group" or be your "rite of passage", but it's harmful physically and psychologically, and is potentially deadly. Maybe it's not all the "hazers" fault; it may well be more the "hayzees" fault. One would feel that a lack of self-respect contributes to the allowance of these degrading acts. If individuals being pushed into these situations had more respect for themselves, they would be more self conscious about the potential danger of being hazed. Hazing, to most, can be looked upon as physically and psychologically unhealthy. The abuse of hazing is where it goes wrong. Making a pledge of a fraternity carry a brothers book bag, and making the new college rookie eat feces can't even be compared, but these are both defined as hazing. In a more recent case at the University of Georgia, The Chronicle of Higher Education writes, "A University of Georgia fraternity member who died in a traffic accident late last month was hand cuffed and apparently being hazed at the time of the crash, according to investigators. Benjamin Folsom Grantham III was riding in the rear cargo area of a sport-utility vehicle driven by another member of Alpha Not all hazing pertains to just males. In some female organizations such as sororities, hazing can consist of the following: paddling, excessive use of alcohol, embarrassment, engaging in public stunts, mora
Some common words found in the essay are:
University Vermont, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Michael Adams, Hank Nuwer, Science Monitor, , Mark Peters, School Connecticut, University Georgia, Tau Omega, fine 3, sports teams, university georgia, hazing wrong, hazing traditional, social class, potentially deadly, violent hazing, university vermont, physically psychologically,
Approximate Word count = 1324
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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