What is Hazing?
Imagine you finally made the football team, and the older kids keep threatening you to watch out at the upcoming football camp. Then, “they turn the camp into a horror chamber, sodomizing the freshman with broomsticks, golf balls, and pine cones”. Hazing is like a tradition that a person has to go through to be a part of a team, group, or club. But hazing doesn’t just happen in college and sororities. It can happen anywhere. Mostly college students have been hazed, but now it’s becoming more popular in high schools. Newspapers show high school hazing happens just as much as college hazing. According to the article “Hazing Hazards (harassment of students in sports and how to stop it)”, Seventeen percent of 6th-12th graders have admitted that they have been hazed in sports before.

Some Examples of Hazing...
Hazing has occurred quite often. Here are some examples.
Baseball players held down and beat younger boys with a board. Once, the beating was so bad that the board broke over the kid’s back.
Hazing has occurred quite often. Here are some examples.
Baseball players held down and beat younger boys with a board. Once, the beating was so bad that the board broke over the kid’s back.
Hazing has occurred quite often. Here are some examples.
Baseball players held down and beat younger boys with a board. Once, the beating was so bad that the board broke over the kid’s back.
The article “High School Hazing” says, “Older players guzzled booze, sprayed urine and threw punches until one first-year player jumped out a second-story window to escape.” When a girl made the cheerleading squad, the other girls told her it was a tradition to flash the captain of the football team. So she did it, and all the other girls laughed at her because she was the first person to ever do it.
What Do You Think About Hazing?
Some coaches don’t do anything about hazing because they think it’s bonding and builds up team spirit. But others like Jim Boeheim, a basketball coach at Syracuse University, says it’s stupid. "Teams are built by everybody working together, doing the same things. Not by singling out one group as different." According to “Sports Hazing Incidents”, a Jackson State University football coach suspended four players and kicked two off of the team for hazing in 1991.
How to Handle Hazing
Sports hazing can lead to psychological suffering and scarring. When you have been hazed, telling is the hardest thing to do. Here is what you should do if you are ever hazed:
“HOW TO TACKLE THE TRADITION”
Experts say that it's almost impossible to protect yourself when hazing occurs. It's better to stop hazing before it even starts.
1. Know that you don’t have to do anything crazy, humiliating, or embarrassing to be on a team. Forty one states outlaw hazing.
2. Refuse to be a victim.
3. Avoid going to parties if no adults will be there. Many people will do things in groups, but would never do it alone. Especially drinking alcohol.
4. Suggest something else that is a real team bonding experience.
5. Don't be afraid to tell. Start with your coach, and if they don’t do anything, keep telling until somebody takes action.
Works Cited
“HAZING HAZARDS.(harassment of students in sports and how to stop it).” Girls’ Life Aug. 2001: n. pag. Gale Power Search. Web. 13 May 2010.
“HIGH SCHOOL HAZING.(becoming more common)(Brief Article).” Boys’ Life Aug. 2001: n. pag. Gale Power Search. Web. 13 May 2010.
“Kids Speak Out: Hazing: Hazing has become a serious problem in college, high school, and even grade school sports. S.I. FOR KIDS talked to six kids, ages 14 to 17, to see what they feel should be done about the problem.” Sports Illustrated For Kids 1 June 2004: n. pag. Gale PowerSearch. Web. 12 May 2010. <http://www.gale.com>.
“Too Cruel For School: A brutal hazing incident rocks a Long Island town--and raises disturbing questions about bullying and teen sports across America.(Up Front).” People Weekly 3 Nov. 2003: n. pag. Gale Power Search. Web. 13 May 2010. “Sports Hazing Incidents.” Sports Hazing Incidents: n. pag. espn.com. Web. 3 June 2009.