Emily Brand
Reporter
Ever see underclassmen walking around with hockey helmets, or with swim caps and goggles on in school? Let’s be honest-who doesn’t like to see the freshmen suffer? Having to do pranks and challenges inside and outside of school are all part of the initiation and hazing traditions.
For the most part, initiation that freshmen or any newcomers to varsity teams go through is held out of school. This was the case with senior Phoebe Wilks, who has played field hockey for all four years of high school. “I was initiated,” she said. “It has stayed the same as something that everyone has to go through.”
Nowadays, hazing is considered a form of harassment, which the school has a zero tolerance policy towards. “It’s stated in the student handbook,” Assistant Principal Ari Rothman said. “There are two policies-the student code of behavior and hazing relating to the athletic code.” The student handbook addresses hazing directly. “Hazing is prohibited whether it occurs on or off school grounds and whether it occurs during, prior to or after the athletic season or school day, it reads.”
Jay Egan, Director of Athletics, explained how the Athletic Department and coaches cannot condone any form of initiation. However, he also said that it is hard for them to enforce something like that because they have no proof of teams doing it. “Some teams don’t make things mandatory; it’s team bonding and we don’t get into that part of it,” Mr. Egan said. “Teams with that kind of understanding of the players who feel uncomfortable in a situation manage initiation so that it stays away from hazing.” It is important to remember that you can never know how someone will react to a situation. Mr. Egan said that initiation becomes a problem if it is embarrassing or humiliating. “Even though some students laugh it off, others may be hurt or uncomfortable.”
Many student athletes look at initiation in a different ways. Sophomore Andrew White doesn’t see initiation as anything harmful. “Hazing is when it is taken too far and someone gets hurt; initiation is just becoming part of the team,” he said. “TP-ing can be considered initiation, because no one is really hurt.” Initiation is seen as a rite of passage to many senior captains who have been waiting for four years to lead their own initiation.
Different sports teams have unique ways of initiating the newcomers to their varsity team. Senior Sarah Smith* explains that she feels hazing has changed over the years and has become less intense. Not wanting to give everything away, she explained the gist of what they do. “We dress them up, have them dance in front of the whole team, sing in front of a restaurant,” Sarah said.
Freshmen Mary Scott* was put through many crazy things in her initiation. “We had to answer questions about people in our grade. I thought it was funny,” she said. “It’s a team bonding experience; it’s tradition.” The main purpose of initiation is to put the newcomers through as many extreme events as possible as a way to test them to see if they will be welcomed to the team. Mary didn’t feel that anything she did was malicious. She clarified the difference between hazing and initiation. “Hazing is having to do things that you don’t want to do,” she said. “Initiation is a way to be accepted onto the team.”
Senior Connor Kilbane was put through many different initiations when making the football and basketball teams. “For basketball we were asked awkward questions, we had to sing a song and wear ten pairs of boxers,” he said. “Football initiation took place during the summer at the team camps.” Connor said that while he was going through the process he was embarrassed, but looking back, it was hilarious.
Acceptance onto the team is key. Sophomore Katie O’Sullivan was initiated last year for cheerleading. “For our initiation we were blindfolded and kidnapped. They dressed us in embarrassing costumes, and we ate dinner at Vicolo’s. It was funny, but embarrassing,” Katie said. But for her it was all worth it. “I felt more accepted after; it’s like being welcomed into the family.”
Connor agreed, “You feel more accepted afterwards,” he said. “The older kids know you better: if your initiation goes well they talk to you more and like you.”
According to Sophomore Courtney Jones* who was initiated as a freshmen, she felt that after the initiation the team had an even stronger bond. But she also thought that the coaches always have an idea of what’s going on. “The coaches know about it but not specifics,” she said. “If they found out they would probably be mad.”
Initiation has really become a loaded term. While some still look at it as hazing, others see it as an experience for kids to be introduced to the team. Field Hockey Coach Erin Gildea explained how her team interprets initiation. “The girls do have a team sleep over to start each season with a big sister/little sister ceremony the next morning,” she said. “It is generally organized by the captains and is meant to help the girls bond and get to know each other.”
Sarah felt that her coaches embraced the tradition. “The coaches understand the tradition has to be there but they obviously tell us that nothing should happen that would make a problem or an issue for anyone on the team, such as being unhappy or uncomfortable,” Sarah said. “They basically have no say but they do talk to us before the season clarifying that there shouldn’t be a problem.”
Initiation may change over the years, but it will probably never completely stop. The initiation itself is a chance for seniors to show their superiority over freshmen. Connor explained that this year there is only one new freshman on his team, but they will still initiate him. “This year for basketball we made the freshmen wear full uniform to school. Even though it’s just one kid we’ll still put him through initiation.” While initiation is usually just one night, the underclassmen aren’t quite off the hook just yet. “Freshmen have to get the equipment for games and practices throughout the season, it’s not really hazing but it’s part of the system,” he said.
Students throughout the school have taken the time to distinguish the difference between hazing and initiation. Sophomore Alex Rose explains her take on the two. “Hazing is something that is harmful; initiation is welcoming younger kids and is taken more lightly,” she said. “Hazing is bad but initiation is acceptable as long as they feel comfortable.”
“Hazing is making someone feel uncomfortable in an awkward situation. It’s potentially dangerous,” Courtney said. “Initiation is something fun that you have to go through to be on the team.”
Mr. Rothman has had to deal with many cases regarding hazing and initiation in and out of school. He said that being on a sports team is a privilege and that a consequence of hazing could be removal from the team. It’s the school’s job to investigate any complaint or rumor of hazing. “If members of a team were putting their new members though a physical initiation that was dangerous or humiliating, then we have to deal with that,” he said. “Team building is silly things. They’re okay as long as they’re not required. Hazing is any activity that is required for participation and that embarrasses or humiliates or endangers the person as a condition of participation. If it makes someone feel uncomfortable then it’s hazing.”
Initiation can even be brought into the school. Sometimes freshmen do things during lunch or in the hallways as an initiation prank. “Last year a kid on a spring team sang in the cafeteria. It’s our job to find out if that kid was forced to do that or not,” Mr. Rothman said. “We later found out he volunteered but we always have to make sure.” These occurrences can be quite entertaining, but the administration always has an eye on things.
Phoebe, like many other student athletes, sees these initiations as something fun and silly that will welcome the newcomers to the team. “The initiation brings everyone together; it’s something you can laugh about later.”
