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Why do people haze?
- They like to feel dominant.
- They think they are actually "teaching."
- They want to continue the tradition.
- They know no other way of communicating .
Members who haze are insecure young men and women who think they
can gain respect from other members by threatening, taunting, mocking,
humiliating, or torturing new members of an organization. These
members derive their self-worth and self-image by exerting power
and suppressing others. Those who haze are never the true leaders
of an organization. In fact, hazers may eventually be the
leading cause of the organization's downfall. Very few people will
ever look to hazers as role models. Just the opposite often occurs.
Hazers usually divide the organization into factions of pledge
classes who have little trust or respect for the group of men or
women who hazed them as pledges.
What can you do?
Don't be a bystander; take a stand against hazing. ALL members
have to be willing to speak up.
Warning signs of hazing in your organization:
- members justifying an activity by saying "it's a tradition"
- the presence of alcohol
- secrecy
- peer pressure for everyone to participate
- singling out an individual or specific group
- miscellaneous bad judgment
CONDUCT A 'SELF TEST'
- Would we be OK with this being in our city or campus newspaper?
- Would we perform this activity in front of our parents or a
University administrator?
- Does this activity involve criminal acts? (Including minors
consuming alcohol)
- Would we be prepared to go to court to defend the merit of
this activity?
- Have we had a close call?
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