I have recently been helping a client deal with a hazing incident where one of his kids was involved. He made the decision to do the right thing and come forward with the information, even though it would cause difficulty for both himself and his daughter.

I admire his courage. We are bringing to light an important issue. There is too much of this in our current world. There have been too many suicides of kids who have been bullied. Too often victims are afraid to come forward and speak out as those who are the bullies are often older and bigger. To me, hazing is just organized group bullying. It is having fun at the expense of another person’s well-being.

I admit as a kid I was at times on both sides of this problem. I hope I have grown up.

 

What To Do

Talk to your kids. Talk to the kids you are a mentor to. Tell them that it is safe to come forward and tell you. Make the home a safe place where kids can share what happened to them without getting in trouble. I had a time where one of my kids was held by another kid on the playground when she said she needed to go to the bathroom. She was held until she peed her pants. This is bullying. She told us. My wife and I handled it and it never happened again.  We gave her some tools to prevent it in the future. Since becoming involved in this story I have talked to my kids about the problems with hazing and bullying. Please have the courage to do the same with your family.

Resources:

For suicide:
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

https://www.iasp.info/wspd2019/

 

For bullying and hazing:
https://www.pacer.org/bullying/

 https://www.edutopia.org/topic/bullying-prevention

 https://www.nasponline.org/resources-and-publications/resources-and-podcasts/school-climate-safety-and-crisis/school-violence-resources/bullying-prevention

Hazing and Bullying in the News.

Here is some of what I have had to say about this issue, and I would love to hear from you about your experience.

https://ksltv.com/421424/father-in-cheerleading-hazing-video-controversy-shares-his-side-of-story/

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