Putting an end to hazing
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Hazing expert Hank Nuwer shares advice for parents on what can be done to get rid of hazing at a local and national level
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What can parents do to get rid of hazing?
One thing they can do is work on the local level. Make sure that your high school and your junior high school have a policy on hazing. Hazing policies have to be written at the school, and they need to be enforced. Students need to know what the punishment will be if they get involved in hazing, and they need to have a clear definition of hazing.
One of the things you can do on a National level, would be to go to www.hazingprevention.org. That is a group that presents educational forums for administrators on hazing. It might be a good idea for your school to send a coach or send a principal to be trained on hazing prevention. Another group is one called, www.preventhazing.org. It's a free site. When you go to it, you will learn about the 44 states that have hazing laws. You'll find out when a state tries to pass a hazing law, and how it gets stopped at that level. You will find out if your state has a good hazing law or a bad hazing law.
For example, in Arizona, they have a law where perpetrators can get five years in prison for a hazing death or other serious injury. On up to other states where there are simply fines for hazing and it's a very low misdemeanor. Six states, such as Alaska, where there are no laws whatsoever on hazing. I find that to be a little bit worried. I would talk to legislators to see if there is a way where a hazing law can be written in your state.
Hazing expert Hank Nuwer shares advice for parents on what can be done to get rid of hazing at a local and national level
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Hank NuwerHazing Expert
Hank Nuwer is a writer and social critic who writes on the topic of hazing as an international human rights abuse issue and USA high school and campus safety issue. The State University of New York's Buffalo State College awarded him a Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1999 and Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in 2006 for his long career as a hazing historian and researcher. His first investigative story on hazing appeared in 1978 for Human Behavior Magazine, including his groundbreaking interview on hazing as a form of Groupthink conducted with Groupthink theorist Irving Janis.
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