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Cammi Hum
Mr. Conrad
ERWC Period 5
April 20th 2016
Taking It Too Far
Hazing (noun): humiliating and sometimes dangerous initiation rituals, especially as
imposed on college students seeking membership to a fraternity or sorority. This history of
hazing in fraternities and sororities
goes back for hundreds of years.
Hazing is divided into three
categories: subtle, harassment, and
violent. Some examples include:
burning, branding, public nudity,
abduction, verbal harassment and
more. Hazing is seen in many
different types of social groups, including gangs, sports teams, schools, military units, and
fraternities and sororities. Mostly it is seen in the greek system. Hazing is a longstanding and
continual subject that has affected a majority of the world throughout history (History). So how
does the college ritual of hazing really affect students? Should hazing be allowed? Or does it
even serve any legitimate purpose? A sense of superiority and power in the fraternities and
sororities is what started the horrible rituals of hazing.
The history of hazing leads back to over two thousands years ago in ancient Greece.
Around the 16th century, the term hazing first took hold after veteran sailors would harass

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rookie sailors on days when the weather conditions created haze, thus creating the term hazing
(History). The actual word hazing comes from french origins, haser, which means to tease or
insult. In the Middle Ages students looked at hazing as a way to teach newcomer precedence:
The underlying idea ... was that the newcomer to the university was an untutored,
uncivilized man, who had first to be polished before he could become a regular member
of the university; before he could taste the sweets of a student's life he should suffer
hardships (History of Hazing).
There is no real purpose of hazing, it is just to humiliate another in hopes of amusing their
superiors.
More than half of students in colleges and universities involved in clubs, sports teams
and organizations have experienced hazing
(Hazing Prevention), this is still going on in
todays society. One of the most common, and
dangerous, hazing rituals is the over
consumption of alcohol. It leads to the most
amounts of incidents and deaths. Most people
will haze others in their groups because they
were also hazed when they wanted to join. It is mostly tradition or to make their group seem hard
to get into and more superior than other groups. The purpose is to put people in less powerful
positions while you are in the most powerful position.
Some of the worst hazing rituals can lead to hospitalization, mental problems, or even
death in some of the worst cases. After being hazed, some students can become so scared and
embarrassed that they get depressed and can even commit suicide. Some of the rituals seem

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harmless on the surface, but they can have side effects that you would never have thought of. For
example, paddling: this is one of the oldest greek hazing rituals. It is possibly the most dangerous
ritual, it can ...cause blood-clots, kidney damage, blood in urine, Rhabdomyolysis, and death in
many cases when symptoms go unnoticed (Newsone). Most time pledges have to do
embarrassing acts or are put in physical harm. Some pledges get to choose between two heinous
acts. For example: they can choose between doing drugs, or streaking in a crowded area. Another
example would be eating dog food or water intoxication. Eating dog food can make anyone very
sick or even end up in the hospital and drinking too much water can lead to the brain swelling
and resulting in death.
Many of the male
pledges are forced to
do very homosexual
acts to one or more of
the other pledges. One
of the most
embarrassing would be the elephant walk. I would explain what this is but it is very vulgar so if
youd like to know just Urban Dictionary it.
Members of fraternities and sororities usually only haze new pledges because they were
once hazed when they were pledges. It is just a constant cycle of since I was hazed I am going
to haze you so you know what it is like. One good way to prevent hazing is to give members the
time to reflect on their actions. Members in a high-pressure hazing situation are more likely to
think irrationally and act in demeaning ways. Planning pledging activities in advance and
allowing members to understand and discuss their role in the proceedings reduces the possibility

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of making poor, hasty decisions (Fraternity), if the members can plan ahead of time they do not
have to think of anything on the spot for pledges to do. This could greatly reduce the number of
pledges who are forced to do horrible acts just to join a certain organization. Another way to help
prevent hazing is to speak up. If younger members, who are opposed to hazing, would just speak
up and say something they could get other support from members and potentially stop the
hazing.

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Most students do not realize when others are being hazed because sometimes it is so
subtle, or they do not even realize they are involved in the hazing of someone else. Also, some
students never speak up about the hazing
because of their code of silence that they do
not want to break. Five percent of all college
students admit to being hazed, and forty
percent admit to knowing about hazing
activities (Inside). The members believe that
by doing so, their primary goal of the
initiation is to bond with all the pledges. The
leaders rarely acknowledge that these rituals
are hazing (Inside). It is mostly just denial, but in some cases they honestly do not think that the
rituals are considered hazing. It in fact does not create unity though. Even though it seems like
they are bonding on the outside, some may also be suffering on the inside because of what they
went through. Hazing affects all members differently. You never know what that persons
physical or mental background is and how much they can actually withstand .Eighty-two percent
of deaths from hazing involve alcohol (Hazing Myths), not everyone can drink as much as the
next guy, so they have to be very careful.
More than seventy-three percent of Greeks reported that they had been hazed at some
point (Altschuler). Another big part about hazing is to see how loyal the pledge will be. If they
decide to do whatever act is assigned to them they will be seen as more loyal. Then they are
subjected to not breaking the Code of Silence, which means they can not tell anyone about
what they went through or if they were even hazed or not. At least one hazing related death has

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occurred each year since 1970 (Altchuler), and there are thousands of organizations that force
hazing upon new members. Even though hazing is prohibited at many college campuses, it still
goes on in secret which is where the code of silence
comes in. Hazing will continue to be the unattractive
face of college fraternities (Altschuler). Not all
fraternities, sororities, and college clubs or groups
participate in the rituals of hazing. Only select ones do,
but it is always good to look out for it.
Hazing is a known phenomena throughout colleges
around the world. It goes on in almost every campus
whether it is in secret or known. Most kids are ashamed
to tell anyone after they are hazed, or they are sworn to
secrecy to not tell or report it. If you know anyone or
hear of a club or organization that is hazing their
pledges, tell someone. You could potentially save future pledges from having to go through those
things. Hazing can lead to serious injuries and even death. What the leaders do not seem to notice
is that if a pledge were to die due to a hazing incident, it is on their hands. They are responsible
for what happened and not anyone else. Think before you act.

Works cited

Altschuler, Glenn C. "How to End Hazing in Fraternities and Sororities." The Huffington Post.
TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.

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"Fraternity and Sorority Affairs." Ways to Stop Hazing : : University of Rochester. University of
Rochester, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
"Hazing Myths and Facts." Hazing Facts and Myths. Babson College, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
"History." Hazing in the Greek System. Weebly, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
"Inside Hazing." Inside Hazing. InsideHazing.com, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
James. "History of Hazing [Archive] - GreekChat.com Forums." History of Hazing [Archive] GreekChat.com Forums. Greekchat.com, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.
"The 10 Most Gruesome College Hazing Rituals." Newsone. NewsOne Staff, 2012. Web. 22 Apr.
2016.
"What Hazing Looks Like." Facts: What Hazing Looks Like. Hazing Prevention, n.d. Web. 23
Apr. 2016.
I like this class but i could not get 30 more words to get the correct amount of words that i need i'm sorry. If you see this just know that i like your
class