AIBU to think universities should ban hazing and humiliation?

[Hopelessinhomecounties]

I don’t understand why hazing isn’t criminal? Hazing.
Here's what I've heard about:
❌ New hockey club members blindfolded and forced to drink
❌ Freshers pushed into drinking games and stripped of their clothes
❌ Someone forced to drink another person's sick
This isn't "banter." It isn't "bonding." It's humiliation, and at its worst it's torture.
In the US, hazing has cost lives and put students in the dock facing prison. Do we really want to wait for that to happen here?
Banning hazing would protect everyone:
✅ Freshers, who deserve to make friends without being degraded
✅ Senior members, who'd be saved from choices that could ruin their futures
✅ Clubs themselves, which should be about sport, teamwork and belonging
University should be where young people find their people, not where they learn to fear them.
British universities and the government: it's time to ban hazing.

the latest us case https://m.youtube.com/shorts/EfndlfdHSz0?ra=m

If it's illegal then presumably it's already banned.

Huh?

isn’t this an American frat thing?

not heard of it in the uk. Free drinks at freshers weeks events are standard but usually people ask for them. Never seen a freshers event where anyone has been blindfolded or taken clothes off (except coats)

You should just go speak to your own uni about this if it’s a problem there.

Wouldn’t it be great to have a well-considered post actually written by a human being 🙄🙄🙄🙄

I voted you are being unreasonable because it is banned/illegal

It IS banned but unfortunately it still happens and it is very difficult for universities to police it as student clubs and societies are arms-length organisations. They do have policies, processes in place and do take action to prevent hazing as much as possible.

Students themselves need to be more aware and more proactive in challenging and reporting incidents. But I appreciate how difficult that is.

It was in the news about university of Bsth rugby club initiation being to spike a Bath Spa uni girl.

Ergh fed up of ChatGPT posts

I didn't realise there were backward places it still went on.

It’s always the men’s sports clubs 🙄🤢

This was banned at my university almost 20 years ago - ‘initiation’ it was known as then. I think something the rugby club had done on the coach back from an away game that lead to a fresher vomiting and soiling himself on the coach was the trigger. I was the social secretary on the committee of a different sports club and we were told on no uncertain terms that any club reported to have done an ‘initiation’ would lose their funding for the year.

It worked cos we just did a welcome drinks thing with no pressure to drink, unlike previous years.

It also didn’t work, I heard rumours of freshers getting really wasted at a secret hockey club initiation and them not getting medical help when they should have because they were worried that if the union found out they’d lose their funding. Luckily the fresher was ok.

Quite. I’ll add to the 🙄🙄🙄

It’s so good to hear it’s banned. But its still going on so the ban needs to somehow be policed.

I used edit in chatGBT but it’s my question not sure why it matters if I used an edit tool?

Not necessarily.

My DD was at University between 2014 and 2017. One of her friends in first year was a medical student and by the sound of it "hazing" or "initiation" or whatever you want to call it very definitely went on in the medical school. DD went with her friend to one of the medical school socials and was shocked by the mysogonistic humour and attitudes on display. Thankfully this wasn't the culture in the department she was in.

I have never heard of this. Surely it is illegal and a police matter. Why are students not reporting it?

No, the female US fraternities can be really bad too

It’s all about status and power. Freshers are desperate to be part of the team so don’t report.

By the time they are established in the team everyone has shit on each other so they are bound together by their collective misdemeanours.

DH had to run naked round the sports pitches for his college rowing team at Cambridge, it didn’t bother him but I guess they were very different times and he has always been the most chilled out nothing bothers him person.

Stuff like this has been banned for years. The last time I remember anything happening like this was when I was a member of staff and it would have been about 2005 and the men’s rugby team ran naked past the office I was having a meeting in. I haven’t heard of anything like this for years.

I shared a house with someone that was in a potholing/cave diving club when at University, It was years ago and he had taken part in the vilest initiation ceremony I have ever heard of.

But is this in the UK?

Initiations are great. Shouldn’t ban them. The US does things weirdly but here, it’s great.

I was at uni 15-20 years ago and people were being removed from positions of power and influence within clubs and societies for this kind of behaviour. So very surprised it's still happening tbh!

But this is a UK site.

OP have you even been to a uni in the UK? The drinking culture is down, a huge amount of young people have never drank. Drinking games are not a thing anymore, at least not to the extent you are making out.

I have heard of this happening in the UK, namely in St Andrews.