Stop sadistic hazing rituals
Despite concerted attempts by education authorities to root out hazing, new and more violent forms of initiation activities keep on surfacing. It is clear all parties concerned including youngsters themselves must unite in making the practice completely unacceptable. Hazing burst back into the news after a video clip and photos were circulated online this week showing a group of young men being subjected to nasty hazing on a beach.
One of the photos shows a man who is apparently a senior student spraying flames between the buttocks of a naked freshman. The video clip reveals seven or eight young men in swimming trunks being told to transfer food from one to another mouth-to-mouth.
Injuries were evident on the bodies of some of the students. A few of the freshmen had tears rolling down their faces as they went through the repulsive activities.
The video clip and photos once again stirred up public outrage. The barrage of criticism that has since followed prompted education authorities from Minister Dapong Ratanasuwan downwards to issue a flurry of instructions. Find out which institute the students shown in the clip are from. Make an inquiry. Mete out punishment and make sure such inappropriate activities do not occur again.
In this particular case of the mouth-to-mouth and flameto-buttock activities, Jomphong Mongkhonvanit, director of Siam Technology College in Bangkok, admitted it was likely that the youths involved in the hazing video clip were students of the campus.
Mr Jomphong said he will carry out further investigations before confirming it. He promised, however, that if the young men who took part in the hazing are found to be from his college, they could face the severe punishment of expulsion because the behaviour as seen in the video is quite violent.
If the men are alumni, the matter will proceed in line with the law, Mr Jomphong said.
Violent hazing can be prosecuted under the criminal law which stipulates that those who cause bodily or mental harm to others are subject to two years in prison, a fine of no more than 4,000 baht or both. The punishment is higher if the victim is a minor less than 18 years old.
Chief of the Office of the Private Education Commission Adinan Pakbara also said that the kind of hazing seen in the video clip not only violated a person’s rights but also runs counter to the Private School Act.
The Act forbids all privately-owned schools to permit any practice deemed a threat to culture and good morals.
Mr Adinan emphasised that the college will be held responsible too if it was found to have ignored its duties in supervising the freshman initiation ritual.
Gen Dapong, meanwhile, told his officials to review measures given to all academic institutes and determine why they failed to prevent a repeat of these inappropriate activities.
While society will have to face up to the reality that the problem of hazing has some of its roots in the country’s power-oriented and collectivism culture which makes it one that is too stubborn to be tackled by punitive action alone, some hope can be found in empowering youngsters themselves to stand up against abusive activities themselves.
Parents must unite with teachers and education authorities to monitor their children’s activities. Campaigns must be rolled out to make students, freshmen or seniors, aware of their own rights and the need to respect those of others.
While initiation ceremonies are part of a custom that can be useful in helping newcomers settle in to a new environment, new students must be empowered to draw the line once welcoming activities turn violent. Eventually, it boils down to students themselves to say no and put a stop to hazing violence.