Sports Hazing

Hazing: A Good Way to Build Unity in Sports.

Initiation is an important part of hazing in any level of sports. It gives new members of the teams a sense of belonging; it builds common experiences among the whole group and sets norms among them necessary for performing. It is also an essential aspect of gaining acceptance into an organization (Driver 1). Comminutes is the ultimate goal for initiation. It is the causing of community spirit, equality, and togetherness for new members (Myers 1). Team unity is a very important part to coming and playing on a new team where the rookies just want to make them self-part of the team and the outside group. Initiation is a point where the younger people on the team get to see what the seniors had to go through to get on the team as well and it also builds unity and bonding for the young guys with the older guys on the team.

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Hazing is a good way to make the younger guys on the team to see they have to trust the seniors on the team when being hazed this builds trust throughout the team. Is hazing a good thing or bad thing to do to new comers to a team to build unity and bonding.

Hazing is a broad term encompassing any action or activity which does not conciliate to the positive development of a person; which inflects or intends to cause physical or mental harm or anxieties (province 1). Hazing has been around for many generations. It existed in ancient and medieval schools in Greece. Another definition of hazing is, any type of physical activity such as sleep deprivation, exposure to weather, confinement in a restricted area, calisthenics, or other activity that subjects the student to an unreasonable risk of harm or that adversely affects the mental or physical health or safety or the student (Farrey 1). Hazing involves things that require new members to show subservience to older members of the team, lowering the self-esteem of the new people on the team. Hazing lets the senior members know that the new people value membership in a sport team then are joining. Many activities that have been considered as hazing are paddling or striking, marking or branding, treating a person in degrading manner, causing indecent exposure, requiring uncomfortable of embarrassing dressing, and dropping unknown food into the mouth of new members (province 1). Hazing has been a problem for young kids to be afraid to join sports team because they know they will be hazed and sometimes hazing gone bad can lead to death. "It's been a tremendous problem since 1970. Where either in a hazing or pledging related incident, we've had a death a year since 1970" (Farrey 1). Out of all organization sports is the third highest percent of people reported in getting hazing in an organization at 35%. Over about 24% of students who join a sport team are being hazed, that is about 800,672 people who go out for sports team (Alfred 1). People who are doing the hazing to the new members of the team are doing everything in their power to aggravate the initiate and make the new members of the team suffer. They also make new comers show how much they want to be a part of the team and go through hazing and if they can handle the Initiation then they belong to the team and build the trust with the seniors on the team. In the 1900's many college presidents thought that any kind of hazing was an acceptable way for older students to teach newcomers respect for their school or organization. Hazing at the high school level involves dangerous alcohol consumption, paddling the young kids, or beating the kids savagely. The new members, who refuse to be initiated even if they find the activity to be either offensive or hateful, often feel uncomfortable, seeing themselves as abnormal. People outside the sports world having no need to belong to anything find it hard to understand why newcomers to a group crave acceptance from the older guys on the team to such a degree. A reason why hazing goes on year after year is because members who suffered vulgar, or dangerous practices believe it will restore some of their lost dignity. People who are doing the hazing on the sports team lie to the newcomers all the time. They lie about the severity of the hazing, which is usually used to build fear in the new comer who has to go through initiation. People who do the hazing also lie to adults, other teammates, school officials, and themselves to think that the brutal practices build group unity. After many decades of hazing of athletes by athletes it is getting seen more thorough public examination (Farrey 1). It took many of series of hazing incidents to go wrong to have forced the world of sports and college and high school officials to look and address the problem of hazing in sports. "Exposing rookie initiations in the media will not stop hazing among varsity athletes" (Chin 1). Hazing does not happen much in pro sports because team owners have cracked down on hazing. Owners do not want million-dollar athletes damaged. "Hazing doesn't make sense in high school because freshmen have no egos and no need for embarrassment beyond that of being a freshman" (Hoffer 31). In a study about hazing, 5% of people in the study marked that they were hazed in middle school sports and 42% marked they had experienced their first hazing incident in high school sports. The process of hazing or of initiation can be split into specifically designed hazing activities to achieve a purpose, like when sports team make new comers run miles or do push ups it is to shape up new members. Hazing teaches new members to humble one-self to listen to authority, interact with several several people closer then most people do with their best friend. Hazing also teaches a person on ones personal limits. It teaches a person to mentally and physically resourceful, both with their-self and with other people. There is only nine sates that do not have anti-hazing laws in the United States and those states are Arizona, Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, Michigan, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming. Initiation into male teams often includes nudity and physical violence. In female teams frequently involve public humiliation and binge drinking which is five drinks or more.

Hazing has good effects on sports and the people it is put upon. The ultimate purpose of hazing, and any form of initiation, is to bring new members into a group and develop unity in the group. Group psychologist says, "hazing by recognizing that people need to be valued by their peers. Hazing allows for this acceptance and it is hard for outsiders, especially school administrators to understand this" (Alfred 1). The new comers who are getting the hazing done to them do not look at it as bad as the outside world does they look at it as a way to become someone on the team they are joining. People that look at hazing think it is just a way for senior players to make fools out of the younger players but it is a way for the younger players to show they trust to the senior players and this helps build unity on the team. One of the senior players who was interviewed said, "I really don't think they see our side of initiation, I mean, they think we're just trying to punish the freshmen, but really we're trying to gain a little more respect and tying all of us together" (Farrey 1). Hazing for rookies is a good way for them to become an accepted member to the team and to be ascribed an identity. "When the vets are older and physically larger, and you want them to like you, you don't think about it, you just do it" (Chin 1). The rookies feel comfort the night they are hazed because they know that elders experienced the same thing and they will be able to re-enact this tradition with future teammates. Myers states that " this communities is the central positive function of initiation rituals"¦thoughtfully constructed initiation rituals can play a constructive role in a group" (Myers 1). Team captains continue initiation rites they experienced as underclassmen because they associate these rites with cooperation, bonding, and team spirit. Initiation is a great feeling for the underclassmen to be able to spend quality time with teammates outside the training environment and that is good when the underclassmen and you really work hard to be accepted by the older athletes. If initiation is cancelled by school or college officials this will bring a upraise in the players on the team that had to go through the initiation the year before. Many of the players that have gone through hazing upon joining a team argue that hazing should not be such a bad thing because of the things they were put through they call exercises and are often enjoyed by the players. The a couple of the reasons that high school players go through is the chance to get a varsity letter that symbolizes athletic greatness or to get the chance to put on a varsity jersey for the first time and the chance to get a trophy. The new players to the team feel hazing has granted them a valuable status on the team they are joining. Hazing is designed to build trust with the freshmen players, who have to live in dorms unlike seniors do and therefore rarely have a chance to interact socially with the upperclassmen, and this makes them want to go through initiation so they have a chance to get to know the older guys on the team. It also moderates the egos of cockier new comers. "It brings everyone down to the same level" (Farrey 1). The younger kids who are tiring out for the team also do it because if they don't they are treated unfair and want to be valued by their peers. " Hazing by recognizing that people need to be valued by their peers. Hazing allows for this acceptance and it is hard for outsiders, especially school administrators, to understand this" (Alfred 1). Hazing is a way used to keep rookies who think they are better then anyone else on the team and think the team relies on just him, hazing is a good way for the veterans to keep the rookies feet on the ground and not to get over confidence. This makes team work in sports and team work is a huge way to win games still in sports today. Rookie initiations allow veteran players to assert their power and position in a social setting. Young people who are joining a team face overwhelming influences based on feelings of perseverance, loyalty, failure, and fear. Many players who go through hazing say they were a better team in part because of the chemistry, communication and respect they have gained by these of the field social settings like the initiation. Players who go through hazing also find value in their initiation.

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