Haze

The survey indicated that 71 percent of students subjected to hazing reported negative consequences -- getting into fights with other students or parents, difficulty eating, sleeping or concentrating, or feeling angry. Those findings are cause for concern, said Dr. Norman Pollard, director of Alfred University's Counseling and Student Development Center. "When we look at recent incidents of violence in high schools such as those at Columbine, Paducah and Springfield, we see the dire consequences of teens …

…one to turn to when they are hazed. The Alfred University officials who presented the survey acknowledged that hazing is a type of initiation rite, and that such rites are important to teen and young adult development. But limits must be set. "Individuals need rites of passage," Hoover said. "How you do them is what's at issue. You can produce that kind of bonding (through hazing rituals), but you do it at a great expense."