Protecting Your Teen Against Hazing

6 Steps to Help Your College Student Avoid and Survive Initiation Rituals

Fraternities, sororities and sports teams are wonderful additions to campus life, and initiations can be lovely, meaningful ceremonies. But hazing demeans, degrades and hurts people. Instead of taking steps to protect against hazing, too often, no one questions degrading and dangerous “traditions” until it’s too late.

They may think, “It’s always been done this way.” Or, in their efforts to make their rituals a little more intense than the previous year, they go too far. The 2005 death at a Chico State University fraternity actually came about because fraternity brothers, concerned about the dangers of alcohol poisoning, substituted a water-drinking challenge. Their pledge died from water poisoning.

If your child is contemplating joining a group that might use hazing - or if you suspect he is already participating in questionable rituals - here are six steps he can take to protect himself.

1. Discuss: First, discuss the definition of hazardous hazing with him so he understands what’s at stake and how quickly things can spiral out of control.

2. Research: If your child intends to join a group with initiation rites, he needs to find out beforehand exactly what they are.

3. Plan an exit: If your child still decides to join, he needs to figure out an exit strategy, in case a harmless tradition turns out not to be. It can be extremely difficult for one person to stop a hazing ritual, but if your child is one of five or 10 new pledges who have agreed on a course of action beforehand, they can act together to prevent injury.

4. Stay alert and don’t be first: No matter how mundane the ritual, your child should keep his wits about him. That means not getting drunk, not being blindfolded or led into areas where he cannot see an exit. He should follow his gut instinct – if he is asked to do something that feels wrong or dangerous, he needs to get out. And he should never volunteer to go first in any initiation.

5. Safety first: If he or his friends are injured, they need to seek medical attention. Internal bleeding, fractures and overdoses require urgent and immediate care. No “code of silence” should preclude their calling an ambulance.

6. Beware psychological damage: Even after a hazing ritual is over, psychological problems may persist. If your child is experiencing sleep problems, flashbacks, anxiety, depression or intense feelings, he needs to talk to a doctor. He can get a referral to a mental health specialist through the campus health clinic, his own doctor back home, by calling the phone number on the back of his health insurance card or by calling a crisis hotline.