The Pros And Cons Of Hazing

Hazing refers to “the practice of rituals, challenges, and other activities involving harassment, abuse, or humiliation used as a way to initiate a person into a group.” Hazing has been used for many years in fraternities and many incidents, good and bad have been slidden under the rug. Many students choose to join greek life to form new friendships and enhance their college experience. However, going into this process many people push hazing to the back of their mind or turn a blind eye to the positives and negative effects it may have. The topic of why hazing could be right in greek life is spoken upon very little, so many people are very narrow minded about their view on hazing. I read two contradictory articles on how hazing has had an

This article takes the complete opposite side of the hazing spectrum. Erin believes that hazing is not in fact a choice, but a practice that pledges are forced to participate in. That sometimes during these practices things go terribly wrong and this will continue to happen if we don’t make a change to how greek organizations run things. There will always be people within a group that take things too far and if we keep hazing deaths will continue to happen (Ering Jackson, Why I Don’t Support Hazing). He uses a comparative technique. He uses an article called “In defense of Hazing” that supports hazing and contrasts it with his own beliefs. One of the similar beliefs he challenged was the belief that we can just walk away from it, that hazing is a choice we make. That “You obviously want to try and join the association, so you are willing to do whatever it takes, and if it takes more than what you want to put into joining then you may simply quit.” He flips this statement by going into to speak about how people who are being forced to complete strenuous or stressful tasks under pressure with punishment being a threat if the task is not completed does not make it very easy to just walk away from the situation or quit. Fear is a great force that is imposed on the pledges that if the task is not completed there will be punishment. Erin also address the statement that “the organizations that have ritually used hazing usually don’t do it to belittle anyone that wants to join their group, they want to provide a unique experience and ensure that they will have the best new members” by saying that when you offer membership to a pledge you have already checked everything you need to see if they are the best fit for the organization. Organizations don’t accept all applying members, hints the point of receiving a bid from a certain fraternity. Forcing someone to binge drink until the point of