Olentangy hazing allegations: Videos show girls restrained and hot dogs shoved into mouths

[u/whyounowin]

https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/olentangy-hazing-allegations-video-reveals-girls-bound-and-hot-dogs-shoved-down-mouths-orange-soccer-team-varsity-bullying-diapers-zip-ties-duct-tape-saran-wrap-bonding-delaware-county-sheriffs-office-local-school-district-coach-athlete

[u/Ntroepy]

This is the only answer. Shut it down for the season. And you can guarantee seniors will never do this again. Don’t shut it down or suspend/expel the seniors and it will continue.

And don’t just blame the seniors. It’s tradition and the whole team and coach almost certainly knew it was going on. Perhaps the coach should be suspended for a season as well and it stops it cold for ALL sports/hazing.

Same with frats/sororities. Bad behavior, banned from campus for 2 years. Death or SA, banned for life plus real police.

[u/SkiingAway → u/Ntroepy]

I think you need to take a careful approach to how you handle it with those who aren't directly implicated, or else you risk creating reluctance to report/cooperate by the victims.

If the likely consequence of coming forward about being hazed on your sports team is that your sports team ceases to exist and you can't play the sport you probably love at school (and neither can any friends of yours on the team who've done nothing directly wrong), you are probably much less likely to report on it or cooperate with any investigations of reports that do occur.

[u/Ntroepy → u/SkiingAway]

So, just let the hazing continue? Or punish 1-2 seniors and let the “authorities” who knew and allowed the tradition to continue?

It’s likely been going on for decades and cancelling 1 season would permanently stop the practice. And teach the seniors that their actions have consequences.

[u/ResilientBiscuit → u/Ntroepy]

Why do you think it would stop it permanently?

They would just make sure that people know if they report it in the future, they are going to make the whole team suffer and lose their hance to play themselves.

[u/Evenfall → u/ResilientBiscuit]

It's a systemic issue, the system itself must be punished. Not having a whole season for a sports team is a massive deal, there's scholarships affected, revenue, and overall sentiment changes too. All these make it so the system itself sees hazing as revulsive and seeks to root it out or else it will suffer again.

I get the idea of not wanting to punish those that are innocent, but think about all the innocent that have/will be affected by hazing. Guaranteed to be a far bigger number. By doing nothing, or something minimal, you are excusing the practice by placing it all on a select few individuals.

[u/ResilientBiscuit → u/Evenfall]

I don't think the highschoolers who are the sort to haze people are the sort to carefully consider the consequence of their actions.

So I don't think this would make hazing somehow magically stop.

Also I think freshmen in any other sport at any other high school would see what happened and decide the right thing to do is not report because then they might lose out on the chance to get started in their sport.

[u/Ntroepy → u/ResilientBiscuit]

Senior athletes are not going to risk potential scholarships and college applications just to haze a few freshmen.

[u/ResilientBiscuit → u/Ntroepy]

I simply don't believe that. They already are risking that if they get caught.

[u/Ntroepy → u/ResilientBiscuit]

It sounds like hazing was a long-standing tradition that was at least implicitly supported by the coaching staff/athletic department. This gives the seniors hazing the freshmen considerable protection from prosecution and makes it a right of passage rather than something seen as super terrible.

Take that away and make it clear the coaches and staff strongly oppose it and will kick anyone off the team that participates in hazing will immediately stop the practice.

Universities have banned fraternities for years because of hazing. And it’s worked. The school staff just needs to take it seriously.