Many people may ask, “What is hazing?” Hazing can be defined as rituals, often hazardous and embarrassing, that many fraternities and sororities require of incoming college students seeking membership in their desired fraternities or sororities. Different activities that are considered hazing include forcing excessive consumption of alcohol or drugs, public humiliation, branding of skin, physical, emotional, and verbal abuse, and many other harmful behaviors. Unfortunately, hazing is something that is still seen around many college campuses today. Students that participate in hazing often think that it is a harmless act of fun, and I am here to tell you that it is quite the opposite of what they think. This dangerous act can lead to serious bodily harm or in some cases, death. In recent accounts, many incoming students of different universities across the country encounter hazing as new students. People are mislead by thinking that hazing is a thing of the past or that it is harmless fun. However, it is obvious that it is still something that kids are still dealing with today. I have recently become aware of hazing because of my close friends who are college freshmen, the news, and my mom’s concerns over the issue with her friends’ college-aged children. Overall, it is important to know that hazing is not just a fun game that fraternities and sororities participate in, and it could actually change someone’s life forever.

There are many solutions for the problem of hazing, but in order for these solutions to be efficient, everyone must work together and be on the same page as one another. These solutions include serious ramifications, legal consequences, better policing of fraternities and sororities, and talks with local law enforcement to show the severity of the consequences of hazing.  Many universities today often fail to regulate their student organizations, and this lack of regulation often leads to lenient consequences. Universities need to increase regulation and enforcement. In other words, they no longer need to just threaten, but they now need take action and actually punish people. Serious consequences may include being arrested, losing scholarships, being expelled, and having a permanent criminal record. Another way that hazing can be diminished on many campuses is by increasing the amount of security and policing of sororities and fraternities. One way that this could be accomplished is by having adults supervise different parties or activities that organizations are involved in. A second way that this could be accomplished is by having local law enforcement meet with each house to make sure they are not participating in any unsafe initiation activities. The last solution of hazing is having preventative measures and talks from local authorities to inform students, administrators, and families of the dangers of hazing. The talks could take place during orientation, so that everyone, including parents and siblings, could be aware of the consequences of hazing. Hopefully, these solutions will not only end hazing but eventually save lives.

The solutions that I have stated may seem very simple, but I believe that they have the potential of being very effective. By having serious ramifications and legal consequences, many students that participate in hazing will most likely see the serious issues of hazing and hopefully realize that it is more than just an act of harmless fun. People fail to learn lessons when there are no serious consequences. By having more serious punishments, students will most likely not be inclined to do what they got punished for again.  If the amount of policing of fraternities and sororities increases, there will be more of a chance that the illegal activity of hazing is caught before any students go forth with any actions. If someone is arrested, this could change his or her life forever. When an individual is arrested, it is left on his or her permanent record. Having a permanent record makes it much harder to find work in the future. The consequences not only could lead to jail time, it could also lead to expulsion or the loss of scholarships. Being expelled from a university means that the work and effort put towards college is gone to waste. Imagine working really hard to get to a certain point in life, and having to start over because of one unintelligent decision like participating in hazing. Taking preventative measures, like having talks with local authorities, will show awareness to the dangers and consequences of hazing. Many people may not know what is considered hazing. By having preventative talks with local authorities and administration, the students will be informed of what is considered hazing, and how hazing can affect their lives. These talks would include describing what activities fall under the category of hazing, the consequences of hazing, and the effects hazing has on everyone. By using these solutions to solve the issues of hazing, I truly believe that not only will they keep people from being expelled or put in jail, the solutions could potentially save the lives of many people.