The Deer Park Hazing Incident
As a result of the hazing incident, Deer Park school district officials cancelled the remaining season for the high school junior varsity basketball team. The superintendent, Richard Organisciak, was quoted in a Newsday.com article, saying “"After all was said and done, it really became clear to me that the season could not go forward with the kind of integrity that you would want to attach to it," according to the article. Hazing is a difficult problem in schools, whether they are part of the Deer Park school district, New York City, or as far away as the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. The U.S. military became so concerned with hazing that it enacted rules that specifically address the issue, complete with consequences and punishments for those found guilty of hazing. The military’s rules on hazing are quite clear. According to the Naval Academy rules, anyone involved in hazing is subject to a court martial. Those who fail to report hazing behavior are also subject to disciplinary action. These rules are clear, with no ambiguity. In light of this, serious issues are raised about the Deer Park incident. The question not answered in many news reports about the Deer Park incident was most certainly on the minds of the parents in the school district—what is the district’s official policy on hazing? What constitutes hazing and what are the procedures for reporting or detecting it? More importantly, what is being done to educate staff and students alike on school district policies with regard to hazing? Every school district that faces this problem has a dilemma—how to standardize a policy on hazing and how to detect it. Often times, these incidents depend on someone speaking up about the abusive behavior. The victim may be afraid to come forward out of fear of retribution. The teachers can’t be everywhere at once, and the school district is placed in the awkward position of trying to make a difference while depending on others to be forthcoming in reporting hazing incidents. The U.S. military has practices which by example may be of great value to those in the Deer Park school district and elsewhere. While the military already has a set of regulations that forbid practices such as hazing, when an incident does come to light, swift action is taken to insure that the rest of the unit affected (and depending on the severity of the case, sometimes the entire military) is given a re-education on the issue. This re-education is often known as a ‘training down-day’. All non-essential activities are cancelled and military people are given a day’s worth of training by military leaders to reinforce understanding and memorization of the policies, procedures and responsibilities of those who are affected by the issue. The military does this sort of training with many issues, not just hazing, and the practice works. School districts all across America would do well to adopt a similar practice to re-emphasize official policies with regard to controversial issues such as hazing. The “training down-day” concept raises awareness and creates an atmosphere of understanding. It also reminds everyone of the seriousness of consequences connected to violations of school district policy. Some may argue that there isn’t the time during a busy school calendar to devote an entire day to such training, or that to bring the entire district to a halt for the actions of a few is impractical. It’s worth pointing out that this practice works well for a massive organization—the U.S. military—and for some serious matters, the training down-day is an appropriate measure. In the end it really boils down to one thing; how serious is the Deer Park school district about ending the practice of hazing? Joe Wallace
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Long Island news agencies recently broke the news of a hazing incident at 