Link: http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/02/us/fraternity-hazing-deaths/index.html
College hazing has been a tradition for years. But concerned parents are raising awareness to these sometimes fatal party games. More than 24 students have died because of college hazings since 2008. The Burch, Hipps and Braham families are just a few who raise their thoughts on the issue.
Nolan Burch, a freshman at West Virginia University, died November 2014. His blood alcohol content was measured at 0.493 and his death led to the suspension of all Greek activities at WVU and criminal charges against two fraternity members. Tucker Hipps of Clemson University was found dead in Lake Hartwell on September 22, 2014, the same day the fraternity he was pledged to went for a predawn run. In March of 2014, Marquise Braham of Penn State University jumped off the roof of a Marriott in Nassau County, New York. Sources say there was evidence of alcohol induced hazing before the incident.
Parents of these families say that their schools failed to address these issues publicly. Specifically, WVU’s website never mentioned the Kappa Sigma fraternities history of inappropriate behavior. The Burch family was unaware of the fraternity’s history when they allowed their son to pledge. "We had no idea, unfortunately, until Nolan passed, that there had been so many problems," Nolan’s mother Kim said. "It's sad. It's really sad. If we had known this was going on, we would have never let him join this fraternity."
I chose this story because we have recently been studying the Temperance Movement in class, and my group chose this topic for our review project. Even back in the 1800’s, the issue of alcoholic abstinence has been present, and it is still a problem today. Although there are many laws restricting the consumption of alcohol among minors, the problem falls more in the social realm. In the 1800’s, the Temperance Society was formed to promote people to stay away from alcohol. But today, alcohol is viewed positively through adverting and social media. So how will the U.S. help minors see the social, rather than lawful, repercussions of consuming alcoholic beverages?
I do agree that there should be more promotion of the social aspect of alcohol consumption, because obviously, the laws on their own are not enough for many teens. If anything, they make teens want to break them even more.
ReplyDeletefrats are really getting out of hand. people only associate them with racisim and rape.. my two fav R words - Kenley Turner
ReplyDeleteFrats have gotten such a bad reputation that I would never consider one for any of my friends or family members. I also think that there should be more attention called to what these frats are doing, maybe a law that states that frats have to show every crime that was committed by someone in the frat and publicly posting what must be done to get into the frat.
ReplyDeleteWhat is even the point of frats anymore? Being racist ?
ReplyDelete