Torture, mutilation, rape and, occasionally, murder, have apparently been tolerated in many U.S. high schools and colleges for years, all under the banner of "tradition".
Some call it "hazing". I call it criminal. It is a crime against human decency, a crime against the human spirit, and in any other environment it is a crime as defined by law.
Fortunately, many states now recognize this, and are trying to put a stop to it. An outstanding example:
A high school freshman in Michigan is grabbed by several other students and thrown into the back of a pickup truck. An administrator sees this, and yells at them to stop, which they did. Two of the people involved are arrested and charged with assault. A good many residents of the town are upset over "making a big deal out of it". To which the county prosecutor replies, to his eternal credit, that these kids should consider themselves lucky that they weren't charged with felony kidnaping, which is what the local police had suggested.
Do I hear cries of "Aw, c'mon, they were just having fun!"??? So were Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, etc, etc...
What the Michigan authorities apparently realize is that if you don't stop this, ALL of it, it inevitably escalates. Believe me, I know all too well what I'm talking about!
Next up the ladder comes the famous "de-pantsing", that time-honored "tradition" of removing the pants of a freshman and throwing him out into a public hallway. Some STILL think that this practice really doesn't hurt anything. That's B.S., but I'll play devil's advocate for a minute.
Just where are we going to draw the line? Think about that. I was physically sexually assaulted as a result of nobody doing anything about the rest of the "harmless pranks". I also lived in a state of terror for TWO YEARS, ALL DAY, EVERYDAY.
And I couldn't even tell anyone. I was too ashamed. You see, I was the official outcast, the one who was always different, and therefore fair game for the rednecks. But what the hell, it was tradition, no big deal, right?
Stephen Stocker
April 4, 1997