Hazing In America

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Hazing has been around for thousand and thousands of years and is still prevalent in today's society. When it comes to hazing there is much debate on whether it should be allowed or not. This paper dissects the topic and reveals the truth behind hazing and it’s initiation rituals. Even though hazing can be found in many school activities, the history of hazing within greek organizations in America is very prevalent and that will be the focus of this paper. This paper will dive into why hazing is accepted in today's society and the mindset of those who see nothing wrong with the practice of hazing. Focus will be directed towards the scope of hazing in America and the statistical evidence of hazing related injuries and deaths within colleges …show more content…
What is portrayed by hazers to be an innocent tradition that creates unity on the other hand can be risky and very life threatening. It’s important to look at the history of hazing to get a better understanding of why it's so widely accepted in America, more so among the youth. Although hazing occurred within a variety of campus groups including athletics, ROTC, and marching bands, the history of hazing within Greek fraternities and sororities is more prevalent and documented therefore that will be the focus of this paper. In unveiling the truth about hazing, this paper will look at the history of hazing, the different rituals practiced within free organization's, statistics of death or injury due to hazing, and attempts at the prevention of hazing within …show more content…
The roots of the practice can be found over two thousand years ago in ancient Greece, during the era of the famous philosopher Plato around 387 B.C. Students of Plato’s established academy considered hazing to be a natural way to teach new coming students rank and superiority. In those days the term used for hazing was Penalism. “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). In this sense, not too much has changed when it comes to the intention of hazing in today's society. Fraternities and sororities are portrayed to be sacred organizations that one has to prove their worth in order to be apart of. Rank and hierarchy are still shown today through big brother and big sister systems within Greek organizations. These systems establish a mentor/men-tee relationship between a pledge and their superior sorority member counterpart. The term hazing itself first surfaced in the 16th century when veteran sailors would harass the new sailors on days when the weather was “hazy.” However the practice of hazing finally appeared within American Greek organizations during the 19th century after the Civil War. Before the war fraternities were merely social gatherings with the
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