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I'm curious as to what people's opinions or experiences are regarding froshing and/or hazing in High School.

Feel free to define these terms however you feel they should be, since they can mean different things in different contexts.

I know at my school the rules are very specific and direct that "hazing" is a significant offense resulting in a minimum penalty of suspension. However, a great deal of froshing still goes on out in the open, and there is debate as to at what point it becomes hazing.

Thoughts? I'll post mine in a separate post.

By Jbaby262 (Jbaby262) on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 09:52 pm: Edit

i always thought it was more of a friendly thing, nobody's gonna mess with anyone unless they are friends with the frosh..like i got thrown i the trashcan twice by some friends, but i guess a punishment would be sort of drastic because its tradition and usually just plain fun, unless someone gets injured. Then it becomes a different story.

By Feuler (Feuler) on Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 11:05 pm: Edit

Basically, my opinion on this matter is that it is not clear-cut. Obviously, very violent forms of hazing are not to be condoned, but I think that, supposing there is no permanent property of psychological damage, it is not worth discouraging, and even potentially beneficial.

As a personal example- every year on the end-of-the-year spirit day, the swim team froshes all the freshmen. The basic tradition is that they have their hands and feet duct taped, are sprayed with shaving cream, put in the back of someone's car, taken to an abandoned freeway onramp about 40 feet above the water, and then made to jump off and swim to shore (after removing the duct tape and allowing us to take off shoes, valuables, and heavy clothing).

Now, on the surface, that might sound kind of mean. But it is never ill-spirited; it is more of a rite of passage. Everyone on the team does it once when they are a freshman, so it is a common experience, and there is a sense of accomplishment when it is done; once you get out of the water, one of the upper-classmen hands you a towel and congratulates you on becoming a sophomore, and then all the upperclassmen buy all the freshmen lunch.

So I would say activities like that- harmless but potentially frightening initiation rituals, are very beneficial for things like team comraderie. It's almost like a form of recognition for the freshmen. I would say these even regarding more violent forms of froshing, such as paddling, but ONLY if it is not motivated by real hostility.

Obviously, however, more ill-intentioned forms of froshing or hazing are to be frowned upon, such as that big news story last year (in Illinois, I think?) where the seniors took a bunch of juniors out and poured manure and pig intestines on them then beat them rather viciously (I don't remember the details, but I know there were some serious injuries). In that case, however, there was actual animosity and anger going into it.

I suppose there are two lines to be drawn: that the activity not harm the targets in any permanent way, and that it is not motivated by genuine hostility toward the target.

By Chocoman (Chocoman) on Sunday, October 03, 2004 - 12:02 am: Edit

when i was on the crew team, there was a tradition.

it was all the junoirs and seniors grabbing a sophomore, and duct taping him to the bench in the locker room. and then putting the bench (with the soph on it) in the shower and then leaving.

lol.

we did it to sophomores because the freshman didnt practice with us. and by sophomore year their committed to crew, if we did it to freshmen they would up and quit. and we didnt do it to the cool or the good sophomores, just the weird or bad ones.


good times. i never got ducktaped btw.

By Chocoman (Chocoman) on Sunday, October 03, 2004 - 12:07 am: Edit

oh and if i recall, they free themselves from the ducttape in less than 1-2 minutes. all that water flowing on them makes the tape easy to get off. plus all the squirming they do leaves bad tape jobs.

By Smeds (Smeds) on Sunday, October 03, 2004 - 01:33 am: Edit

The freshmen on the guys' swim team have to eat a goldfish.

By Chocoman (Chocoman) on Sunday, October 03, 2004 - 06:15 pm: Edit

thats awesome.

By Tongos (Tongos) on Sunday, October 03, 2004 - 11:18 pm: Edit

you guys have fun at school!

This is how not- social i am. If i get to school early, then i will walk around campus a couple of times, so that i look like im doing something or going somewhere (when im really not). If i stand around, then i would get easily made fun of. Then at lunch, i go into a classroom where i feel safe from the crowds. If i see some one i know, i avoid them, because i dont have the social skills to talk.

By Elizabeth22 (Elizabeth22) on Monday, October 04, 2004 - 01:34 pm: Edit

Awww, Tongos...don't be so shy. I'm sure you're an awesome kid. Go make some friends!

By Tongos (Tongos) on Monday, October 04, 2004 - 06:37 pm: Edit

i should make some friends. Im really shy. thanks for saying im awesome, that was really nice elizabeth22. I think you're awesome!