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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | October 31, 2014 09:23 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Ron Marsico |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Hazing Legislation |
| I am preparing a bill that will better protect students from harmful hazing rituals at Pennsylvania schools. I hope you will join me in showing your support and sponsoring this legislation. Hazing is often defined as the practice of rituals or other activities involving abuse or humiliation to initiate a person into a team or group. Currently, 44 states have some version of anti-hazing laws. Pennsylvania has such a law, which makes hazing a misdemeanor of the third degree, but it is limited to institutions of higher learning. Clearly the instances of hazing here in Pennsylvania, as well as across the country, are not limited to colleges or universities. Very recently allegations have surfaced about football players at Central Bucks West High School where players had engaged in pre-season hazing at the school that included a requirement that rookies grab another player’s genitals. Allegedly another hazing incident involved placing towels over players’ heads and leading them into the shower. This same year, in New Jersey, multiple football team members at Sayreville War Memorial High School have been charged with sexual assaults on younger players that took place as part of an initiation rite. In 2011, two high school basketball players at Andover High School in Massachusetts were expelled and five were suspended for pressuring underclassmen to play a game where the loser was forced to eat a semen-soaked cookie. In fact, studies from leading anti-hazing advocacy groups show that 47% of high school students experience hazing, and that it is reported by male and female students alike. Fully 25% of these students report having been the victims of hazing before the age of 13. To address this problem, my bill will expand that law to apply to public and private secondary schools, as well as to make clear that forcing a student to engage in conduct against his or her will is itself a form of hazing. I think we can all agree that hazing is another form of bullying, which must be stopped. Traditional bullying involves singling out one individual at any time and bullying them as a means to exclude them. Hazing involves bullying someone to make them earn their way into a group or onto a team. I hope you will join me in co-sponsoring this legislation. |