Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 10 November 2000 — Page 9

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10,2000 ■ PAGE A9

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iniisin aim Nriiing Seminars

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Hazing is against tlie law

Alesha Cooper

North Central High School

Recorder Intern

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. , Once thought as a strictly a college ritual, hazing has lately become -a high school tradition. The trouble is, today’s initiations often look

more like assault and battery than harmless pranks.

Hazing is defined by the FIPG (Fraternity Insurance Purchasing ’Group) as: “Any action taken or situation created, intentionally, whether on or off fraternity premises, to produce mental or physical discomfort, embarrassment, harassment or ridicule. Such activities thay include but are not limited to the following: use of alcohol; paddling ' in any form; creation of excessive fatigue; physical and psychological

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shocks; quests, treasure hunts, scavenger hunts, road trips or any other

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such activities carried on outside or inside of the confines of the chapter house; wearing of public apparel which is conspicuous and not normally

“Any action taken or situation created, h

on or off fraternity premises, to produce, discomfort, embarrassment, harassment on ties may include but are not limited to the

alcohol; paddling in any form; physical andpsychological shocks;

^ . creation

logical shocks; quests, treasure htmis, j

public apparel which is conspi taste; engaging in public stunts and buf ing or humiliating games and activities which with fraternal law, ritual or policy or the \ J of the educational institution. ”

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e ucationa institution. hanger by his basketball teammates—to the police, he claims that the awareness and policy devetopment/enfercwMit 1 Ttohuin^ in theory, is meant to unice the team. What itlns done intel iust i^. While many collnesand unhenide. In the U.t*»l is torn sc oos apart, an ocuse^ atten ononanage-o ra i on a Although hazing has often been thought to exist primarily in hazing policies and educational awareness propMI ftM seems to e getting out o an. fraternities and sororities, many people are starting to realize the very few secondary schools have done the sam#.'/’' It s been reported that every year since 1970, someone has died m .. . I . . . . ' . ., . . . . - . . . .. ^ t ... . . . „ , , A pervasiveness of these harmful rituals. Additionally the majority of A major part of the problem is the lack of unowWL a azmginci ent. ost o t e eat s a PP® n ® y C ° eg ® ® ve 7<J hazing in high schools happens during initiations related to athletic general population about hazing. Hazing pnctibatlkl rucent study done zt Alfred Unrmrsfty m Afred, N.Y found that 79 team « So[ J e of ^ ^ hlgh prof . |e |ncidenB ^ news tave ^ ov Xked znd dtunis^zs^ VedMMe'k. percent o co ege at etes a to * otr ° u ® ^ ome ln . °'["■fowlved brutal initiations in high school sports. Even pro sports teams parents, teachers, coaches and administrators do net < ritual. But 42 percent of those students had also been hazed in high . . . . ° . r ^ r . .. .. . .. . .. . , i , . . . r., , , . .. .. are not immune from hazing as demonstrated by recent newsworthy definition of hazing and how it operates ih sodecy. I school. And while no one knows exactly how widespread the problem ........ ° . . . - . tu • j j. , , r r , , hazing incidents involving professional football teams. of hazing activities do not concern themselves wMk < is, high school hazing incidents now make the news at a rate of about c ° ... .. . r . . . _ . . ... ... . , . . . five a month - as iften as hazings in college fmtemiti,.. All of this M"*' "*****

hazing.

. ......... campus... Sorry, but this is one of the more ridiculous questionnaires hazing education and support for victims at the of adolescence create a situation in which many students are more ag*ns„h. ft* in fndftn. i j .

disturbed. Now there’s an outright pattern,’’ he said.

As hazing cases hit the press, school officials and police are beginning to take them more seriously. But in many cases, hazing is still treated as a harmless prank. Victims and their lawyers charge that their

The pros and cons of cartoon#fiill

Should GPA matter?

Krystle Dalton

Arsenal Technical High School

Recorder Intern

By Robert Russell

Shortridge Middle School

Recorder Intern

television. _ 1 “My child should not see this. It is a form oti

doesn’t really bother me because my 10-year-oM ftf i

mature enough to understand what is what. On I

Why are children growing up so fast? In a child’s lifetime, they watch a cartoon named Sponge Bob Square Pants, many cartoon shows such as: Looney Tunes, Rugrats and Doug. Could “This cartoon is improper because he walks armilMl l cartoons be the reason why children are growing so fast? Some wear. He should either wear pants or nothing at aL Tfcihfj cartoons such as Looney Tunes contain things like Bugs Bunny acting to see, he’s a sponge. I don’t like him walking around blbo^ti like a woman, or Pepe Le Pew romancing a female cat On the Rugrats for my child to see. The I -year-old is fine, she can waadtaigM movie the mother became pregnant. On Doug, he has a crush on a girl cartoons such as Teletubbies, Comfy Couch and A

I think you shouldn’t need good grades to be in an Indianapolis Public named Patti Mayonnaise. So I ask again, could cartoons be the reason Street On Teletubbies there is a character that III School magnet program. I have a different feeling, though, about sports. t h at children are maturing quickly. I don’t care if she watches it She’s too young to uAdarMtln#)L ^ ^ You should have good grades or a high GPA (grade point average) to Jh e majority of growing children mimic the things that they see. gay” ^ V;', ^ be in a sport or magnet program. Being able to keep the grades up in Many girls play with Barbie and other dolls. Barbie dolls have long hair, Jason Smith, 17, said, “I believe that the <hif#t dlMMMf ? sport will keep sports players motivated and make them want to keep t hj n figures with breasts. Is Barbie doll the reason for girls who are them to act as the character would in a cartoon. Thedddjp^ their grades up so they can play. anorexic? Could the fact that Ken dolls have male sex organs be the makes them think that they can do what the Chan£ian4fo| If I get in the magnet that I want, and my grades get low then I would reason that girls have a curiosity of the male sex organs or even the child can watch the Power Rangers and then they couMgi havetogetout But I think that if you can do the magnet and your grades reason that girls have sex at an early age? * to do what the character does and get hurt A 0ri COuMi are somewhat good, you should be able to be in it There is a reason Dariel Horton, 17, Arlington, said, “I think kids are growing up in a doll and think ‘Wow I want to look like her' md fpr the sports to be a grade requirement world where things are more visual to them. TV, radio and toys expose everything in her jx>wer to actually look like that BariMi dtifi

*1 Sports require time to practice and play games. Usually practices and things that our parents weren’t exposed to. Because religion was so becomes sick from trying to keep her figure smaR. TVMp fiify 4#

games are after school, causing students to probably not have enough strong, children didn’t have to worry about sex and violence because influence children in that way."

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time to study their academics. School is the first priority, not sports, everything wasn’t so obvious in cartoons and toys. “I am a girl and I used to play with Barbie dois," aatflfcaiMMh fa Fred Winfield, 13, Shortridge Middle School, said: “I don’t play for My sister is at the age where she knows right from wrong. She is 9 “■ don’t think that Barbie dolls can make a girt try CO do rftt ## a school but my grades are what keep me on the soccer team (for his y ea rs old. She grew up watching Bugs Bunny the Rugrats. Bugs Bunny the Barbie can do or even try to look like the Barbie dpAAparUlCW church). I have to have a 3.0 GPA to play on the team.’’ has been shown in a multiple derogative ways. He has been dressed as do what they want. Barbie is just a doll, she doesn’tpUC Jeff Ford, 14, Shortridge Middle School, said: “I almost had to quit the a female and made to kiss a man in order to outwit his captor. None someone’s head and say ‘Be like me.’” " football team because of my grades, but the coach wouldn’t kick me off. the less we all know that he is a male bunny. Dolls are made to look at “Personally I think that Barbie was made to bn ajwd If* ’ ^ He would make me sit out a couple of the games (until my grades a nd to play with not to be looked at as idols. females,” Smith said. “She was supposed co rSpraiK a J improved).” Shalanda Flynn, 33, a mother of two, a 10-year-old and a I -year-old, working, independent woman. She is supposed CO Chfttffrf. v _ L . In the end, who will have the last word in this dispute? The teachers sa jd, “Actually it doesn’t bother me that my 10-year-old cartoons, but can be and do anything that they want to do. She rcprnoaMttfftiiin will and they would probably say children should be kicked off the team on MTV there are cartoons that I disagree with such as Daria and success. 5 v J > ; . if their grades are low. They also would probably say a student should celebrity Death Match. On the Cartoon Network there is a show called “Cartoons are supposed to be for laughter and be kicked out of a magnet program if his or her grades become low. Cow and Chicken the cows feminine organs are exploited and it makes were made for children to watch so that they can IfRI dlMr WMil m

me feel like a man or woman is walking around with no clothes on my of the violence and scandals of the world. Barbie b to haflpJMAMbl

wandering off into the destructiveness of the world abo^ gMBbflgML If there were no cartoons, or toys, what would tftt ddMNRflf At

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world be doing?

Danielle Johnson. IS.safo^lfchiklrendkfo’thMaiv^BMWiMIlit

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there would probably be a lot more teen-age dropouta. have schools and teach. There are toys thatteeebyoul write, and how to read. There are cartoons that do* Among these are Barney, Sesame Street, and

House. They all teach children about safety, the afylMbot MdiMMNt

to use drugs!”

There are many cartoons that teach these things but dbplMMl ever turn to these cartoons when watching aMertriMUPt" ^ ‘ ^

them on the cartoon that shows a male burmp I are growing rapkfly and their parents should I

play with and watch • A

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