Hazing Hits High Schools

Aug. 28 -- Hazing is no longer a problem limited to college campuses, as a new survey find that high schools are also dealing with initation rites that go too far.

Researchers at Alfred University in New York released a survey today, saying hazing has become significantly more violent and dangerous, and often starts at the high school level. The study says nearly 2 million teenagers each year are being hazed.

“Forty-eight percent of all students who join any group in high school are subjected to hazing. Forty-three precent of them reported being subjected to humiliating activities, 23 percent are involved in substance abuse, and 29 percent of them told us they performed potentially illegal acts as part of their initiation,” said Dr. Nadine Hoover, principal investigator.

Cases of alcohol poisoning are widespread, and severe physical abuse are also common, the survey says.

Hazing is defined as “any humiliating or dangerous activity expected of you to join a group, regardless of your willingness to participate.”

Hazing in Church Groups, Too

The Alfred University survey was the first-ever effort to measure the prevalence of hazing among American high school students.

Alfred University embarked upon the new survey after its 1999 study showed that 42 percent of the college athletes who said they were hazed to join their college team reported that they had first been hazed in high school; another five percent said they were first hazed in middle school.

“The prevalence of hazing in high school should be a serious concern to all of us in higher education, said Charles M. Edmonson, president of Alfred University. “Colleges and universities have long considered hazing to be a problem, and they have worked hard to prevent it. This study reveals that our challenge is much greater than anyone appreciated.”

The problem of student hazing is common in athletics.

“The numbers are alarming. Most students in the U.S. are involved in high school sports, and a quarter of them are being hazed. That’s approximately 800,000 high school students a year,” said Hoover.