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Hazing 101: An Overview of the Photo Album of Northwestern Women's Soccer
Team
by Dr.
Susan Lipkins
Return to the
Initiation Pictures here.
So what’s the big deal? A bunch of kids have a perfectly good time repeating a ritual, and seem to be smiling and happy as they march through campus in their underwear. So what’s wrong with that? They are not being forced to be humiliated. They are choosing to repeat the tradition, to allow others to order them to do things which, in an other circumstance, would be considered ...wrong?
Let’s say, an English teacher demanded that her female students appear in class just in a white t-shirt and underpants, would that be ok? Would it be ok if she had the students then decorate one another (using permanent magic marker,) with profanity?
How about, if the Sociology professor insisted that students were blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs, and shouted at, just so they could experience feelings of helplessness, or learn about authoritarian dictatorships.
Better yet, the Health Education professor insists that students funnel beer and do keg stands so that they can learn the dangers of alcohol first hand. As part of the lesson the teacher insists that girls kiss one another, on the lips. And those who are not quite good enough can practice their lap dances with the boys.
Would you pay $40,000 a year for your child to have such experiences? How about 40K so that your daughter could degrade and humiliate others. Is that what college is about?
Is this really the kind of team spirit and leadership training that you had in mind when you fostered athleticism in your child?
Let’s call these photos a snapshot of hazing 101. It is a course that is often taught in high schools across the nation. It seems to be one of the more popular courses in college, among athletes, greek letter organizations, bands, and other groups. The pattern seems to be clearly delineated in these photos.
First there are three groups, those in charge who are passing on a tradition, who I call the perpetrators. Then there is the group that has the lowest status, and are receiving the hazing, and they are called victims. The most important group, is the audience, or bystanders. In this circumstance there are two groups of bystanders: those who are actually members of the team who are watching as the senior members haze the new members. The other set of bystanders are those who are looking at the photos, including the coaches and administrative officials who have plenty of evidence to investigate an apparently illegal activity: hazing, underage drinking, and perhaps other crimes.
What are the bystanders, the administrators, and others doing by allowing this kind of behavior to exist and to flourish. Are they saying that “girls will be girls” or are they saying that these kinds of pranks create deep bonds and assure the college of future alumni who will contribute to the economic well-being of the college?
Are they saying, this is not really hazing because no one is being damaged?
Perhaps they are right. Perhaps in this set of photos, in which there is a clear delineation of those girls who have power vs. those who do not, there is no evidence of serious physical or psychological harm. Perhaps this is an example of controlled hazing?
What the photos do not tell us is how many students ended up in the ER with alcohol poisoning. How many ended up having sex against their will? How many don’t remember what they did or with whom; but they remember why…part of their initiation to soccer!
The fact that these photos are publicly displayed with captions clearly indicating that this is an athletic initiation at a major university demonstrates the fact that these students, do not consider these acts to be hazing. They do not fear the university nor the state, and blatantly disobey hazing policies and hazing laws. Why would smart kids do such a thing? Because they, and perhaps their coaches, parents and others, have not been properly educated about hazing. The adults in their life know that these activities are occurring. After all it would be hard for anyone on campus to think that ten girls on the soccer team who are marching blindfolded, hands taped behind their back and in their underwear, were on their way to the next soccer practice. Each time these activities are ignored, renamed, or called pranks, the students are being given a carte blanche to continue their hazing practices. Each time students are hazed, they are creating another group of potential hazers. Like a virus, the blueprint of hazing is repeated, and spreads from high school, to college, the military and the workplace.
As you view these photos imagine that this is happening on campuses across the US and the world. What does it mean about how kids respect their own body, and what about respecting others. Each time a hazing occurs the group likes to tweak it just a bit, adding their own personal insignia. Often this requires doing a little more calisthenics, or drinking a little more alcohol, or doing some sexual act which is a little more risqué.
The students never consider that with each addition, they are creating a situation which is more and more dangerous, more likely to create a perfect storm, in which all the situations and elements suddenly appear. Elements which allow the group to skid out of control and into the hazardous zone.
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