After a break due to social restrictions & fewer students on campus, college students may engage more in alcohol misuse & hazing this fall semester. Let’s talk hazing & Generation Z students!
Hazing is: “any activity expected of someone in joining or participating in a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers them regardless of a person’s willingness to participate”.
As naughty as the definition reads, 9 out of 10 college students experiencing hazing behavior do not consider themselves to have been hazed.
Hazing is common among college students: 55% of those involved in clubs, teams, organizations, fraternities or sororities experience hazing. Half of college students report hazing experiences in HIGH SCHOOL! “Drinking games” and” drinking large amounts of alcohol” are most frequently reported during hazing. A key component of hazing is SECRECY: the hazers know what will happen while those being hazed are blind to actual risks.
The fall semester in particular has more event-specific days that often feature alcohol and hazing such as: rush week, pregaming, syllabus week, homecoming, Halloween, first year student transition, new student move
in, and others.
Many students perceive these campus events as “rites of passage” which increases their desirability and likelihood of alcohol being involved.
Throughout the pandemic, college students who saw a decline in their social life may now have a greater need for social connections, wanting “to belong ” & face greater pressure to endure hazing.
The pandemic left some institutions with inadequate staffing personnel to monitor and ability to control environmental conditions that reduce student self-harm. Hence, parents need to step in wisely.
True story: TJ & his friends decide to join a college fraternity. On fraternity bid night, they are told to consume a large amount of whiskey & wine in 30mins! TJ passed out & his “brothers’ ‘ wrote on his body with permanent markers, gave him a bucket to puke in, & left him ALONE to sleep it off. He never woke up the next morning. He was found DEAD with a blood alcohol level of 0.328 (legal limit is less than 0.08). Read more…
Parents can start educating their children on responsible alcohol use and hazing.
Have these conversations prior to the start and throughout the academic year.
Additionally, educate students on how to recognize and respond to alcohol overdose.
Rule of thumb: NEVER EVER LEAVE ANYONE (who has overdosed on alcohol)
ALONE TO SLEEP IT OFF! Blood alcohol levels continue to rise to dangerous levels even after a person passes out! Save a life! Call 911!