Hazing can be defined as rituals and activities that cause humiliation, abuse, or harassment through the Greek life initiation process. The most recognizable forms of hazing occur on college campus fraternities. College hazing is taken lightly, considering the results degrading and sometimes fatal for victims. Hazing is illegal in most states, but is it enough? University of Virginia police point out that the first death due to hazing occurred in 1873 after a "Kappa Alpha pledge died when he fell into a ravine after being left alone in the woods blindfolded" (Hazing). Hazing continues to be a problem across the country. Joining Greek life is more than saying, “I'm in a fraternity,” it represents a bond of brotherhood with the letters they share and the rituals they perform that constitute their loyalty and values. There are many ways to solve hazing problems in Greek life, starting with college students who are new members of Greek life, and can exert the most influence. Also, pay more attention to these problems on college campuses, enforce stricter rules and laws as punishment for getting caught to get them to quit in the future, and provide the list of resources to freshmen or those who are rushing Greek life every year. .Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay There is a fine line between what is hazing and what is sibling bonding activities. Some believe that hazing a fraternity's pledges reduces the exclusion of those who do not belong to that particular fraternity. When in reality, a pledge is a male looking for a fraternity and a fraternity is also looking for that male. Hazing is a test of one's metallic and physical strength, “those who choose to join a fraternity face venerated initiation rituals, which serve the purpose where each member will ideally 'move ever further from the periphery to the center' of a social unit" (Accorto). Before a pledge can be initiated in a fraternity, it must do certain things in order for the fraternity brothers to prove that they are worthy of wearing the letters of that fraternity. I already initiated brothers want to commit to what they think is the perfect form of a man and do so by “imitating the transition from boy to adult as they move from commitment to full-fledged brother Initiations are about masculinity, testing it and proving it masculinity is tested through a collection of feminizing hazing practices” (Smart). Hazing can be as simple as a scavenger hunt or having pledges shout out phrases that brothers think are funny. A more recent case of hazing occurred "in November 2012, when a member of Northern Illinois University's Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity died after being forced to answer questions and consume alcohol all night" (Hazing). Hazing has become all too common in universities in this modern world. Across the country, schools must promote the idea of reducing hazing and act accordingly. The first step in changing the idea that hazing will help kids grow into adults is to prove it wrong by identifying the risk factors for hazing. Many schools and students across the country recognize that hazing is a problem and want to solve it. There is a national week known as “Hazing Prevention Week” that continues to be adopted by several universities. Hazing Prevention Weekwas established to educate new members of organizations about hazing and what to do if they experience these practices. It is encouraged for students to take a stand, sign a banner, and pledge to stop hazing, but no one seems to follow through on these actions they take. Elizabeth Dsurney explains how students think: “For most of us, it's not hazing, she said. It's a rite of passage that everyone in the organization has already gone through. If you don't want to be put in those situations, or don't think you are, you can handle being in those situations, don't rush, don't join in, don't try” (Dsurney). She continues with her point by saying, “just because it's expected doesn't mean it should happen” (Dsurney). Hazing Prevention Week works closely with organizations to spread the idea that fraternities can still pass on their rituals to new members without practicing hazing. In the article “Hazing Prevention Has an Impact,” it is explained that “Hazing is a problem that is not often seen in the news, but as the article in the news said, when it appears it will hit hard” (Hazing Prevention). Hazing Prevention Week is a good way to start being proactive rather than reactive when it comes to hazing, but it doesn't push students to do anything about these problems. Hazing Prevention Week lets students know that things are happening behind closed doors in a fraternity, but it doesn't give them any resources to take action and take a stand to change all hazing practices. Another solution to prevent hazing from happening again in the future is to enforce rules and laws to prevent this practice from turning into a bigger problem. Enforcing rules that no one wants to follow is also becoming a problem. Sometimes big companies like to sweep small problems under the carpet and hope that no one finds the chaos, for example, “universities prefer to turn a blind eye to hazing because they want to avoid the public scrutiny that comes from being at the center of a serious crime in campus. To avoid public scrutiny, some universities use the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ('FERPA') as a shield to avoid reporting incidents of hazing that occur among college students” (Alvarez). Even many witnesses or victims of hazing do not report these crimes because they do not want to be the people to talk about practices and rituals that have been repeated for many years. Many people wonder why young adults are attracted to joining Greek life organizations when they should be well informed about the possibilities of hazing and how common it is. This is because “Greek organizations are very secretive. The loyalty required by keeping secrets, such as hazing practices, appeals strongly to the desire of many young people to be accepted” (Alvarez). The appeal to loyalty is another reason why witnesses or victims do not report hazing crimes. They are told that these acts of hazing are ritualistic and must be kept secret to earn their letters. Alvarez agrees that if individuals who commit said hazing crimes are held accountable, they should be accountable for their actions first and foremost and that should create a chain reaction effect throughout the rest of the fraternity. This often doesn't happen unless something serious is reported because universities don't want the trouble, as mentioned before. Furthermore, many students are persuaded by these organizations to say that "I know what to expect before I commit and I don't see anything wrong with it" (Morgan). If new members join and say “no,” then they will change the way they are treated..
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