This looks worse than getting teabagged...
The other day I made my first splash into College Baseball posts, and today I ran across a story that got me a little peeved about a Middle school track team, and was inspired to pop my second cherry in as many weeks. The story can be read here, and is about two Iowa middle school track kids are being accused of “tackling a teammate, and placing their testicles on his face (aka teabagging)“. The boys aparantly tackled the victim to the gound and commensed the teabagging hazing just before practice. The victim who hasn’t been named, filed charges on the two “hazers” on April 13th.
I’ll be the first to admit I’ve witnessed some ruthless stuff growing up that probably went a little too far at times (especially in college), but in the end it was just part of growing up as a normal guy. Hell, my High School hazed all their freshmen by making us walk through an arch while the upper classmen hucked pennies at us as we walked through the lamest archway ever made. That tradition didn’t last long (only two years I believe). Anyways, in every sport there is hazing, and some of it might turn a little gay, but at the time it’s usually more funny than gay. Even in the pros there is hazing, just ask any rookie on any team. You can bet that Richard Seymour is going to make Lamarr Houston his bitch this year out in Oakland. There is no way I can say that I wouldn’t have been pissed about getting teabagged when I was the kid, but there is noway in hell I’d be mad enough to file charges! What happened to getting even the old fashion way?!? Cmon kid, get them back with a solid prank instead of getting all legal with it! Even a 14-year-old should be able to come up with a get even scheme. If these two hazing kids serve any Juvenile Hall time for this that would be the true crime. Teabagging is nothing compared to the horrific broomstick fiasco we heard about awhile back. If you want to cringe a little, here’s that link….
By
cali4dre
chappy81
dyslecix
mceezy
Doin Work 
April 26th, 2010 at 12:38 pm
chappy
If it isn’t bad enough that we’ve got kids committing suicide in schools because of relentless bullying or hazing. WTF is wrong with these kids ? It’s just like the story some months back of the female student being gang raped on school premises during a high school dance in California. Over 20 witnesses and not one ‘mofo’ would step forward. But at the same time the school district tried to absolve itself of any responsibility. Dumb as_ses had apparently decided to send the on site security people home but were relying on the patrolling police force to provide whatever first response that might be needed.
Thanks but no thanks ! Even in the military they know their limits when it comes to this .
Alan Parkins
April 26th, 2010 at 3:07 pm
Yeah, that was a terrible incident (girl getting gang raped). I’m actually all for hazing as long as it doesn’t have lasting physical effects, it’s just somewhat human nature to make the “new guy” belong. I think there’s a big difference in this case that I brought up, compared to others that caused serious physical and mental harm. This kid might have some issues mentally from his peers, but it will be forgotten by the time he hits HS. Anyways, I agree that some people take it way too far…
April 26th, 2010 at 8:45 pm
chappy
There’s nothing enjoyable about hazing or subjecting someone to a form of degradation. Less we forget that was the same excuse that some tried to use for what took place in Abu Grahib ? And look where it got the US military in the end ?
Alan Parkins
April 26th, 2010 at 6:15 pm
Wow, ballsy approach writing about teabagging and using the phrase “popping my second cherry” in it.
April 26th, 2010 at 6:50 pm
Funny, I was thinking of changing the title after I wrote that cherry popping sentence, but didn’t think anyone would make that connection. I stand corrected!
April 27th, 2010 at 6:36 am
chappy
No kid who’s the subject of hazing ever truly forgets it. It’s asinine to even think that it can be thought of as childish prank to begin with. That’s the short of sh_t that set of the likes of Dylan Klebold at Columbine and we can all remember of the ramifications of that mess can’t we ?
Klebold and his partner in crime had been the subject of taunts and hazing. So think about it and then come back to me !
Alan Parkins
April 27th, 2010 at 8:28 am
Well, I’m sure there are billions of hazing incidents that go down each year, and there’s always some that take it too far, and I’m not for that. There’s no way to prevent it, and I feel it’s just part of growing up. Klebold must’ve had a few screws loose in the first place to want to go on a killing rampage. In those cases I blame the parents for not noticing that their kid was falling off the deep end.
Are you against it in the pros? Every rookie has to do some embarassing stuff, but since they are all grown up does that make a difference to you?
April 27th, 2010 at 8:47 am
chappy
What to your mind does hazing instill into a person ? I spent 8 years in the British military as a Royal Marine. They say it instills discipline. That may well be the case but there’s a place for it and that place isn’t in high schools where you’ve got kids who are still impressionable.
As for the NFL and professional athletes ? Well let’s look at that situation shall we ? What has the likes of Roethlisberger , Clarett and Lawerence Phillps learned from their rookie initiations ? A big fat friggin zero ! It’s an asinine prank that’s suited for maladjusted individuals and it serves no purpose at all in the professional ranks of sports !
Are you telling me that you’d willing be humiliated to walk around in women’s clothing merely so that someone else can have a laugh at your benefit ?
In the military it serves a purpose when it’s done with a regimen of making that person tougher in their resolve. When done to inflict harm upon others the damage can be irreparable.
Klebold was unwilling to let his parents be aware as to his turmoil and at the same time they were too friggin dumb to see the warning signs. What fuc-in parent seemingly let’s their child run loose around the outskirts of their home with semi automatic weapons and then think there’s nothing wrong with the person in question is using defenseless creatures as target practice ? And by defenseless I’m talking domesticated animals .
Alan Parkins
April 27th, 2010 at 9:26 am
Oh, I’ve had some pranks go for and against me. Sure the ones that go against you hurt, but in the end I’m not usually overly bitter. Since I’ve never been in the military, maybe I haven’t seen hardcore hazing, but at the same time, I feel like it’s just something that happens. I mean is there really a way to stop it? I don’t see many instances where it is, so you may as well go with the flow… I’m not saying that violent hazing is okay, just beware of who it’s being done to. Personally I don’t view having to wear a dress or carry a kids lunch box around like the NBA guys have to is all that bad… I’m not saying you learn anything from it, but if you can’t overcome some adversity in your life you won’t be successful anyways… People are too coddled these days… Klebold was a douche, maybe the lesson is don’t mess with douches’!
April 27th, 2010 at 9:44 am
chappy
The dangers of hazing are there much like the students and alcohol on campus. I’m sure that whilst in college you had friends who tied one on and got blind drunk and couldn’t handle the aftermath of it all ? Well it’s the same thing can happen with hazing.
I’ve seen where it can have a really lasting effect on an individual. I’ve seen it also where it can toughen up a raw recruit . I’ve also been privy having witnessed first hand seeing a teenager being brought into a hospital after they’d try to hang themselves having been bullied in school. A friend of mine who’s a emergency room physician had invited me to spend the day with him while he was at work. That in essence was how I saw up close and personal what harm this can do.
Kids nowadays we’re told are bright and they know right from wrong . Unfortunately the facts don’t always bear this out with the number of cases that’ve arisen out of this all. It now seems even more prevalent amongst girls than ever before.
What really needs to be done is the for principals in the schools to have some sort of program in place to countermand the situation when it gets completely out of hand. But unfortunately with cuts being made amongst educational budgets it takes a tragedy to happen before anyone becomes proactive.
Imagine if you had a relative of yours take their own life merely because they couldn’t take the pressure of being hazed or being bullied. What then might your own thought be at that juncture ? Put yourself in that person’s shoes for once ?
I’ve taken the life of others during the course of my duties in the military (Ireland fighting the IRA in the early eighties). And it was something that I was trained for. Part of the ritual much like what the US Marines go through here in the US is similar to what the Royal Marines go through in Britain. You either bend or break as part of that ritual and that’s what separates the men from the boys.
Alan Parkins
April 27th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
It’s all about circumstances of the incident… In this case I didn’t feel it was the worst thing in the world. In some cases like the broomstick thing I referenced at the end of the post, that is above and beyond criminal, and should be charged as such…
April 27th, 2010 at 3:39 pm
chappy
No matter what form it takes it tends to hurt someone. Even if many way well see a funny side to it all.
The psyche in all of us is so different and that’s what many people don’t seem to realize.
Alan Parkins
January 16th, 2011 at 2:14 pm
You know what? This bothers me, but only because nobody stands up for themselves anymore. I tell you what man, where I went to high school this never would have happened. I mean seriously, all you have to do is be friends with the drug dealers and then if anybody fucks with you, shit is taken care of.
Seriously, people just don’t stand up for themselves anymore.
Meehan
January 17th, 2011 at 11:18 am
Truly disturbing how someone let this happen. I’m not sure I’d want to put my nuts on some dudes face though no matter what happened…
October 6th, 2011 at 10:06 pm
Seriously? Not only is it bullying, it is sexual harassment. This is not rough-housing. It is not boy play. Having someone’s crotch in your face is humiliating and sexually threatening. I teach at a middle school, and if you could see what these kids go through on a daily basis just trying to figure out who they are, and getting ridiculed at every turn, you would not talk so fast. Middle schoolers are confused enough by sex, making these kinds of sexual acts much worse. I’m sorry, but if you think bullying, hazing, what ever you call it at any level, is ok, you obviously missed some really important lessons in life. There is nothing ok with sticking your crotch in someones’ face.
June 6th, 2012 at 5:10 am
It’s a shame that such behaviour is still acceptable in a so-called civilised society. People don’t treat their dogs the way people are treated in some hazing rituals – you’d be charged for cruelty to animals. Hazing is ritualised bullying and can border on assault – people who tend to be in favour of it are usually the most ‘powerful’ or ‘popular’ (and not because the are nice people) and get some kind of sad enjoyment from watching others be humiliated, or they have inflicted it on others and need to justify it. A ‘prank’ between a few close friends is NOT the same as some of these rituals and should not be confused as such. How can anyone enjoy and justify humiliating others? I find it bizarre that people can enjoy doing this to others. People can become friends and hugely loyal without such ridiculous behaviour. Nobody knows what victims have endured as children in terms of sexual abuse, or even physical & psychological abuse, and what might tip them over the edge. Everybody is different and to assume because one person survived unscathed it makes it acceptable, is a weak argument. Does anyone honestly think it improves loyalty or a sense of belonging? Personally, I ‘m far more likely to respect and be loyal to someone who has shown kindness and respect and am likely to loathe the people who have humiliated me, and possibly fear them. Does anyone really have any idea of long term consequences in terms of people who go on to experience clincial depression or drop out of college etc. as a result, or who go on to harm others because they assume its ‘the done thing’? How many people go on to other jobs and instituitons where they perpetuate this idea of hazing/bullying? There are plenty of traditions, and good and positive things that can be done to encourage belonging – but this is one behaviour, like racism, that is not fit for a modern, civilised world and should not be perpetuated. I think in adults in even more inexcusable.
Look up the incident of Private Sychev in Russia in 2006 – hazing in the Russian army – poor 19 year old bloke had to have his legs and genitals amputated as a result of institutional hazing out of control.Was this separating the men from the boys – really? But even if it doesn’t get out of control – it ‘hardens/toughens’ people to some extent so that they cannot see anymore what is right and what is acceptable behaviour. It is such a fine line between having fun and humiliating someone. There is no evidence that it makes victims psychologically stronger or more loyal. It is an abuse of a position of power. I am all for stamping it out and encouraging an alternative of positive, fun, kind and supportive behaviour being shown to new students/recruits. You can still have ‘strong’ men and women, both physically and psychologically, who are kind and compassionate.