Injuries and death caused by hazing are no longer excused or treated with a slap on the wrist. Prosecutors are bypassing misdemeanor hazing charges for the much more serious murder and manslaughter charges when death results from a hazing ritual.
“Go back a generation or two, and hazing was accepted conduct, part of the fraternity experience, part of the football experience,” said David LaBahn, president of the Association of Prosecuting Attorneys. Now it’s no longer ‘boys will be boys’ and ‘why is the prosecutor getting involved in this?’ I think there is much more acceptance out there that this is unlawful behavior.”
Three cases: LSU, Penn State and Baruch College illustrate this new reality:
At LSU: On September 13, 2017, at the Phi Delta Theta house, an 18-year-old pledge died of acute ethanol intoxication with aspiration after playing a drinking game. His blood alcohol content was .496 percent, more than six times the legal limit. He and other pledges had received text messages ordering them to report for “Bible study at the chapter house. “Bible study,” was question-and-answer game during which pledges were forced to drink “a pull” from a bottle of alcohol if they answered questions incorrectly. The 19-year-old fraternity member who was in charge of the hazing event and who aggressively insisted that the pledge drink was charged with negligent homicide and misdemeanor hazing. Nine other students are currently facing hazing misdemeanors and expulsion.
At Penn State: On February 2, 2017 at the Beta Theta Pi house, pledges were forced to line up for a “gauntlet” of drinking stations. First, they passed a vodka bottle down the line. Each pledge was ordered to drink before moving to the next station. The pledges were then ordered to “shotgun” a beer, and made to drink from a wine bag. Finally, the were obligated to finish with beer pong. In a group message sent shortly before midnight, one of the fraternity members texted that an 18-year-old pledge had fallen 15 feet down a flight of stairs and would need help.” Video from the fraternity showed the pledge stumbling and hitting his head on a railing, on the stone floor and on a furniture. A few times, a fraternity brother walked into the lobby, saw the pledge lying on the couch and failed to render aid. Instead he was “back-packed.” A backpack stuffed with textbooks was placed on his back to weigh him down so that he would not roll over and choke on his vomit. While he drifted in and out of consciousness, fraternity brothers splashed water on his face in an effort to revive him. Twelve hours after the gauntlet game commenced, 911 was alerted but by then he had died. Eighteen Penn State students were charged: eight with involuntary manslaughter and ten with hazing misdemeanors and furnishing alcohol to minors.
At Baruch College: On December 9, 2013, a Pi Delta Psi pledge participated in a ritual called the “Glass Ceiling.” He was blindfolded and made to wear a backpack weighted with sand while crossing a frozen field as members of the fraternity tackled him. During at least one tackle, he was lifted up and dropped on the ground in a move known as “spearing.” He complained his head hurt but continued participating and was eventually knocked unconscious. Fraternity members carried him inside and contacted a national fraternity official who told them to hide fraternity items. Some members left the house, while others changed his clothes and conducted internet searches to diagnose his symptoms. When the pledge experienced trouble breathing, he was driven to the hospital where he died of severe head trauma. Initially, 37 people were charged in connection with his death and faced assault and hindering apprehension charges. Five fraternity members were charged with third-degree murder which did not require a specific intent to kill. Eventually, four of the men who had been charged with murder pleaded guilty to reduced charges of voluntary manslaughter and hindering apprehension.
Category: Issues relating to Teens and Young Adults
Although teens and young adults are encouraged to act independently in the academic, employment and social world, they are not biologically equipped to do so. The amygdala, the impulsive, “flight or fight” part of the brain is in control since the prefrontal cortex which is responsible for making well reasoned decisions is not mature until age 25. Consequently, their decisions are often irrational and flawed.
Teens and young adults are “sensation seekers” which means that they actively search out opportunities to have new and risky experiences. Add to this thrill-seeking component, the need for peer approval, the availability of unsupervised free time, the American emphasis on independence and the stage is set for poor decision making.
Teens and young adults spend most of their time in groups or cliques and the approval of peers directly correlates to feelings of positive self worth. Teens and young adults erroneously credit their peers with having a much more exciting life than they actually do. The belief that others are leading a much more exciting life spurs the adolescents and young adults to engage in more dangerous and risky activities than they would otherwise. Then their acts are used by other teens to ratchet up their excitement quotient.
Studies show that intelligence and academic success is no guarantee that teens will make well reasoned decisions. Self-efficacy is confidence in one’s self-worth and decision-making skills independent of the peer group. A confident and grounded teen may be able to reject an undesirable peer suggestion on a case by case basis by creating a safe way to fit in the group without expressly rejecting the choice of the peers. Going out with peers but volunteering to be the designated driver, or using humor or other diversionary tactics to maintain peer approval while avoiding the risky activity is more socially successful than avoiding the peer activity entirely.
Making the teen/young adult’s self-regulatory behavior more automatic and less dependent on individual self-determination maximizes the opportunity for good decision-making. In other cultures, self-control and delayed gratification skills are taught at an early age and practiced in daily life. If the safer course of action is ingrained in the teen’s mind, the opportunity for independent thought is reduced as is the opportunity for a poor outcome.
Finally, minimizing unstructured time also reduces the opportunity for engaging in risky activities. In other cultures, teens do not engage in as many risky activities because structured schedules leave little time for discretionary time.