Taking Team Spirit One Step Too Far
Taking Team Spirit One Step Too Far
Aug. 28, 2000 (Washington) -- Hazing has gained a lot of attention recently among college sports and fraternities. But now new research shows the practice extends down into high school -- and is showing up in places you wouldn't expect it.
Group activities have long been considered an integral part of a child's education and socialization. But for many students returning to high school this fall, becoming a part of those "wholesome" activities might involve hazing that could lead to poor grades, illegal activities, and even physical injuries.
Whether joining a football team or church group, every high school student that wants to participate in a peer group is at significant risk of being hazed, according to the first national survey to measure the prevalence of hazing among high school students.
Hazing is defined as the act of forcing someone to perform a humiliating or dangerous activity in order to join a group regardless of that person's wishes. Examples of hazing include being forced to eat disgusting items, drink alcoholic beverages, and vandalize or destroy private property.
Nadine Hoover, PhD, is a private consultant and the principal investigator of the study, whose results were unveiled Monday at a press conference in Washington, D.C. The study was commissioned by Alfred (N.Y.) University, which made headlines in August 1999 with the release of its study regarding hazing in collegiate sports.
The results of that collegiate study were not unexpected, but Hoover says of these latest findings, "what we found was distressing."
While expecting to uncover some level of hazing, the researchers discovered that about 48% of about 1,500 high school students participating in the direct mail survey were subjected to hazing, she explains. About 43% of them reported being subjected to humiliating activities, 23% to substance abuse, and 29% to being forced into performing potentially illegal acts, she says.
The prevalence of hazing among church groups, which seem to prefer "dangerous" initiation rites such as criminal acts, was the most surprising finding, Hoover adds. But as a mother of two teenagers, she was also surprised to discover that the two greatest risk factors included whether an adult in the family previously underwent a similar experience and whether that adult considers the act of hazing socially acceptable, Hoover says.
Taking Team Spirit One Step Too Far
Aug. 28, 2000 (Washington) -- Hazing has gained a lot of attention recently among college sports and fraternities. But now new research shows the practice extends down into high school -- and is showing up in places you wouldn't expect it.
Group activities have long been considered an integral part of a child's education and socialization. But for many students returning to high school this fall, becoming a part of those "wholesome" activities might involve hazing that could lead to poor grades, illegal activities, and even physical injuries.
Whether joining a football team or church group, every high school student that wants to participate in a peer group is at significant risk of being hazed, according to the first national survey to measure the prevalence of hazing among high school students.
Hazing is defined as the act of forcing someone to perform a humiliating or dangerous activity in order to join a group regardless of that person's wishes. Examples of hazing include being forced to eat disgusting items, drink alcoholic beverages, and vandalize or destroy private property.
Nadine Hoover, PhD, is a private consultant and the principal investigator of the study, whose results were unveiled Monday at a press conference in Washington, D.C. The study was commissioned by Alfred (N.Y.) University, which made headlines in August 1999 with the release of its study regarding hazing in collegiate sports.
The results of that collegiate study were not unexpected, but Hoover says of these latest findings, "what we found was distressing."
While expecting to uncover some level of hazing, the researchers discovered that about 48% of about 1,500 high school students participating in the direct mail survey were subjected to hazing, she explains. About 43% of them reported being subjected to humiliating activities, 23% to substance abuse, and 29% to being forced into performing potentially illegal acts, she says.
The prevalence of hazing among church groups, which seem to prefer "dangerous" initiation rites such as criminal acts, was the most surprising finding, Hoover adds. But as a mother of two teenagers, she was also surprised to discover that the two greatest risk factors included whether an adult in the family previously underwent a similar experience and whether that adult considers the act of hazing socially acceptable, Hoover says.
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