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... es only and jeopardize the safety of the new members. It is this kind of behavior that has brought laws against hazing and weakened the fraternity system as a whole. Forbidding hazing, as a whole is not the right way to solve the problem...
one should not look down upon the system as a whole just because it has a few bad seeds. We do not kill every person in this world because there a re a few rapists and murderers... we merely punish those who cause harm people. A fraternity without hazing is like a bird without wings, it can not fly. The military has not stopped its hazing but has controlled it so that the people who wrongfully haze to cause harm are prosecuted.
On December 13, 1997, two male cadets were suspended for their involvement in the attacks of women at the Citadel (Guernsey, A 32). The military continues to line up cadets and makes them do physical tasks (i. e. push ups, sit ups, run, etc. ) when they disobey a command or break a rule.
This hazing develops a level of stress that the soldiers must learn to control and work with because in wartime situations, there is an incomprehensible amount of pressure put upon a soldier that must be dealt with to live. This form of constructive hazing is treasured by the military and continues to keep it strong. The same practice should be applied to greek life hazing... keeps the positive and punishes the negative.
Approximately 80 percent CEOs of Fortune 500 companies were in a fraternity (when hazing was legal) and many of them attribute their success and work ethic to their fraternity life. Fraternity life develops every aspect of a person's life from the social aspect with peers to a business sense with community and school leaders. The results of a survey compiled of 300 actives and 100 alumni all from a variety of fraternities shows that 77 percent of the fraternity members believe that hazing served a valuable purpose (Baier, 302). In a fraternity one learns how to communicate with a variety of people, show respect for others and also one's self, develop a productive work ethic, and also to enjoy life. If laws were designed to only punish those who attempt to wrongfully harm new members, then fraternities could continue to produce model citizens that benefit the world as a whole.
There are many criticisms of hazing in both military and fraternity life. The Russian army is notorious for brutal hazing of those enlisted. It is a military that has mandatory enlistment and failing to serve is punishable by law. Many Russian men willingly go to jail instead of serving in the under-funded military. The majority of deaths in the Russian military are self-inflicted, meaning they were either suicides or soldiers killing their commanding officers. Russia's military applies violent hazing techniques of starvation, brutal beatings and other horrible acts.
Their poor training became apparent in a war with Chechnya, where Russia lost to a military that is only a small fraction of their size. "Russian and Western analysts attribute their loss to the low morale and poor training of the Russian forces, which has spawned a name for hazing and harassment of new recruits" (Filipov, A 28). In 1997, a pledge at Southeast Missouri State University died of a beating that was a result of his initiation into a fraternity (Roark, 368). Another pledge from a different fraternity died of a bacterial infection as a result of eating uncooked meat during a ritual activity (Roark, 370). Fraternities that force their pledges to drink excessive amounts of alcohol or to perform any other task that puts a pledge's health and life on the line needs to be stopped. The results of Baier's survey shows that only 2 percent of pledges are forced to drink alcohol. Paddling and other violent forms of abuse, nudity, and eating unpalatable foods occur with less than 5 percent of pledges (Baier, 303).
The methods of hazing most used are line-ups, yelling, house duties, and sleep disturbances (Baier, 303). Baier's survey also analyzed whether the fraternity members considered hazing to be a problem in their chapter, at their university, and nation wide. The results show that only 10 percent thought hazing was a problem in their chapter, 33 percent believed hazing is a problem at their university, and 47 percent considered it a problem in the fraternity system as a whole. Media has taken its toll on hazing in that it reports all the negative cases and not a single positive display of it. People hear about a pledge dying of alcohol poisoning because of hazing but not the work ethic that Ted Turner received from it to become a multi-billionaire.
In light of the survey, the brothers know what goes on in their chapter because they see it first hand and the number is low. At the university level, school newspapers jump on fraternities when given the chance, and hear-say runs wild through dormitories spreading news whether it is true or false. When national television plays clips of pledges getting harmed or runs a full special on fraternity hazing, the public can only come to one conclusion about hazing. The fraternity members surveyed also see this footage and begin to believe fraternities across the nation apply poor hazing methods. The more media that present, the higher the percentage goes for negative feelings of hazing. Media has always been notorious for distorting and taking the side of an issue...
this is no different. "It may seem incomprehensible to an outsider that the initiates actually participate voluntarily in these rites, but the importance of the ritual is, in part, a reflection of the nature of the requirements of the unit at this stage. Initiates are strangers to each other and to the Airborne. The bonding of the initiation pulls them together in a very short period of time. This phenomenon was noted in the 1950 s Aronson & Mills, who remarked that an initiate who endures severe hazing is likely to find membership in a group all the more appealing. In these rituals, soldiers prove their readiness to participate in the group regardless of personal cost, thus gaining peer group acceptance" (Winslow, 185).
Winslow's quote gives a direct representation of fraternity hazing. The bond that is built can not be explained nor comprehended unless it has been experienced. Hazing done to maximize a person's potential, not to endanger them, can be an extremely effective method in teaching and molding an individual into a model of what is expected. Thirty people have died as a result of hazing since 1980, and it is these cases that give hazing a poor reputation. Admittedly, organizations that haze need to take more precaution in the health and safety issues of the hazed. Hazing done correctly is an excellent means of bonding a group of people so that they think and act as one, which is a necessity in certain roles.
It teaches trust, responsibility, respect, and other qualities that can not be consistently met in other forms of facilitation. Constructive hazing gives individuals a drive for learning and acting in the way that is expected of them. This drive can be carried by one's own self through their life and lead them to success. Hazing has made the military a force that protects the freedom of every individual in this country. It has also kept the fraternity system alive since the 1400 s despite attempts from the church and schools to destroy them. Hazing should not be banned due to the actions of the few looking to degrade people for their own entertainment.
The positive aspects of hazing can not be understated. Hazing needs to be used constructively for the betterment of the individual and society as a whole. Laws need to be made simply to punish those who use hazing to harm so the others can use hazing in a positive fashion to produce model citizens to lead this country.
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Research essay sample on Cause Harm Fraternity Members
