St. Stephens St. Agnes -- Hazing on Boys' Lacrosse

[Anonymous]

Apparently it is a "tradition" at SSSAS for the seniors on the boys' lacrosse team to shave the heads of the freshman boys (buzz cuts, designs, silly shapes, etc.). This is defended by the Head Coach, also the Athletic Director. I would call that hazing, not tradition. Why is it being allowed? It calls into question the values and philosophy of the institution as a whole.

[Anonymous]

If it bothers you, send an email to the AD. And if you're going to do it, don't be a coward - use your REAL email account.

Shaving the heads of freshmen, new Varsity players, etc. happens EVERYWHERE. It's not unique to SSSAS.

Seriously - if it bothers you, file a complaint.

[Anonymous]

Why are they doing that crap?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Apparently it is a "tradition" at SSSAS for the seniors on the boys' lacrosse team to shave the heads of the freshman boys (buzz cuts, designs, silly shapes, etc.). This is defended by the Head Coach, also the Athletic Director. I would call that hazing, not tradition. Why is it being allowed? It calls into question the values and philosophy of the institution as a whole.

Please get a grip. Every school does it. The freshman see it as a badge of honor that they made varsity. It does not call into question values or philosophy. It bonds the boys on the team.

[Anonymous]

Every school does NOT do it. Stop trying to defend ridiculous behavior. Its hazing ...plain and simple.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently it is a "tradition" at SSSAS for the seniors on the boys' lacrosse team to shave the heads of the freshman boys (buzz cuts, designs, silly shapes, etc.). This is defended by the Head Coach, also the Athletic Director. I would call that hazing, not tradition. Why is it being allowed? It calls into question the values and philosophy of the institution as a whole.

Please get a grip. Every school does it. The freshman see it as a badge of honor that they made varsity. It does not call into question values or philosophy. It bonds the boys on the team.

Interesting -- no denials, just a defense (and attack against the original post). Amazing how many people are rallying around what seems to be, at best, a misguided practice that sends a dubious message. And did you really type out the equivalent of "everyone does it?" Hazing has been justified for years by "badge of honor" type arguments and "everyone does it" or "everyone goes through it." (That's the kind of thinking that, taken to an extreme, led to that band member being beaten to death a couple years ago in the Florida A&M hazing incident, and has led many states and municipalities to adopt criminal anti-hazing statutes.)


This wouldn't bear scrutiny in a public school and this is one occasion where the "independence" of an independent school is not a positive. Hope those inquisitive Washington Post reporters are monitoring the site -- good story on "lax culture" here, it appears (or do people only care if something happens at Landon)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Every school does NOT do it. Stop trying to defend ridiculous behavior. Its hazing ...plain and simple.

Agree.

[Anonymous]

Is this something that the freshman fear, dread and hate or are they proud of it?
True hazing (bullying) has really been under the microscope by school administrators for the past few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apparently it is a "tradition" at SSSAS for the seniors on the boys' lacrosse team to shave the heads of the freshman boys (buzz cuts, designs, silly shapes, etc.). This is defended by the Head Coach, also the Athletic Director. I would call that hazing, not tradition. Why is it being allowed? It calls into question the values and philosophy of the institution as a whole.

Please get a grip. Every school does it. The freshman see it as a badge of honor that they made varsity. It does not call into question values or philosophy. It bonds the boys on the team.

Says the mom who buys the team's electric razors.

[Anonymous]

Dude. What? This is not OK. I don't care what you call it, unless the freshmen boys voluntarily show up and are allowed to opt out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dude. What? This is not OK. I don't care what you call it, unless the freshmen boys voluntarily show up and are allowed to opt out.

I would surmise that the young guys probably are proud of it and see it as a voluntary thing. This still doesn't make it okay, though. Even mild hazing rituals, if tolerated by the school, can evolve into something darker or coerced (do you want to be the spoilsport who opts out, for example?). It also says "being a lacrosse player is more important that being a 'regular' student at SSSAS" -- not something that athletics programs should be trying to foster.

I'm honestly really surprised in this day and age that any school admin is okay with it. There's been a huge amount of focus on stopping hazing, even what seems like mild or funny stuff, in the collegiate ranks. Odd to have a DC area independent school lagging on this.

[Anonymous]

Having new players or freshman shave their heads seems to be a pretty standard practice over the years. I'm almost certain all of the other IAC schools do the same thing to their freshman players.

[Anonymous]

Yuck. Another reason to avoid LAX.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having new players or freshman shave their heads seems to be a pretty standard practice over the years. I'm almost certain all of the other IAC schools do the same thing to their freshman players.

+1. I went to an elite private girls school in another city. We had a weeklong "Fish-inish," which was freshman initiation (and hazing). It was such a fun week. As freshmen, we eagerly looked forward to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having new players or freshman shave their heads seems to be a pretty standard practice over the years. I'm almost certain all of the other IAC schools do the same thing to their freshman players.

+1. I went to an elite private girls school in another city. We had a weeklong "Fish-inish," which was freshman initiation (and hazing). It was such a fun week. As freshmen, we eagerly looked forward to it.

If you're looking forward to it, it's not hazing. If you're going along with it because you think the consequences of resisting would be worse, that's hazing.