Caught in a haze

The Wasilla High administration took a strong step toward ridding its school of hazing this week. After learning of an incident involving the WHS varsity hockey squad, the Wasilla administration suspended the entire team for two weeks.

That suspension results in the forfeit of three games - including two key Region III contests. A game against Colony High School, that could help decide who is the top seed in the North Star Conference Tournament, automatically goes down as a loss for the Warriors. So do games against Homer and South Anchorage.

It is far too often that schools receive reports of hazing, and next to nothing is done. Hazing, a form of initiation that is nothing more than a ritual punishment, has been a problem everywhere. It does not matter if it is Wasilla, Alaska or Washington, D.C. It is as easily found in a school of 2,000 students, as it is in a school with 200 students. And unfortunately, it often seems to have a tie with athletics.

The incident involving Wasilla, in which a group of players allegedly fed a laxative-laced cookie to an underclassman, is not the first case of hazing in Alaska this year to hit the media. In October, nine West Anchorage High School students were suspended from school for the apparent paddling of West High freshmen.

Throughout my tenure at the Frontiersman I have heard allegations of hazing ranging from fights in the locker to flaming bags of feces left outside of someone's motel room door on a road trip. There have been stories of students being choked and spanked, or thrown out half naked into the snow. Not all of these charges involve student-athletes in the Mat-Su Valley. But some do.

On a national scale, the reports of hazing have been much more vicious. Reports have been serious enough to result in criminal charges. Wasilla High activities director Joe Gardner said while the administration was interviewing the Warrior student-athletes after the report, they compared the incident to another in which a student in the Lower 48 received criminal charges after giving a teacher food that contained laxatives. No criminal action will be taken against the Wasilla student-athletes, But when criminal charges are even mentioned as a possibility, it becomes much more serious than the loss of three games.

Hazing incidents have also resulted in death. Students have been choked or suffocated. Many of the initiation-related deaths involve alcohol. Booze is the last thing that's needed. Lets just further effect someone who is already suffering from a severe lack of judgment.

Hazing has never made sense to me. What's the point? I mean really … what is the point? A laxative-laced cookie? Is the humor of that poor kid running for the bathroom worth the loss of three games? A pretty anti-climactic ending to the prank, huh?

If there was laughter, it quickly turned into sorrow as the athletes learned their goal of a region title may now be in serious jeopardy. I commend the WHS administration for taking action, and showing students there are consequences.

&#8220We want to provide a positive, healthy and safe environment for our student-athletes,” Gardner said. &#8220We're basically sending a message that any kind of hazing activity, or any kind of bullying like this is not going to be tolerated.”

Gardner said administrators interviewed players on the team, and determined that the number of players who either knew about the prank or participated in the prank was high enough to warrant a suspension of the entire varsity team. That is making a stand. If the message got through, that will tell this group of athletes and any other at WHS that these actions will not be tolerated.

The decision to suspend the entire team was strict. The players that had nothing to do with the incident lost the most. I do think those central to the prank should suffer a more severe punishment, than those who may have just looked on. But I do understand Wasilla's idea of incorporating the team concept into the punishment.

The high school seasons are not long, and three games is a big chunk. But a big part of prep athletics is the lessons that are learned off the field. I have always said that student-athletes must be held to higher expectations. The Warriors won the Region III title last year, and had the opportunity to experience something great. They earned that chance to be in the spotlight.

But now they must face the consequences for their actions. For the most part, I believe the team is made up of good kids and I respect the WHS coaching staff.

This incident did propel Wasilla hockey back into the spotlight. But in a negative way. The story appeared in two newspapers, including the Frontiersman. It was also a topic of conversation on the Bob and Mark Show radio show on KWHL.

I hope the student-athlete most effected by this prank does not decide that athletics is not for him, because a group of players had too much time on their hands and decided to have some fun at his expense.

For the most part, these hazing incidents involved upperclassmen trying to throw their wrath toward the underclassman. Upperclassman need to realize the

underclassmen are the future of their program.

Those who argue for initiation say it's tradition. First, that's a bogus excuse. Just because some senior gave you a wedgie and tried to yank your underwear to your head as you were a freshman, does not make it acceptable for you to do the same thing four years later. If tradition is the concern, pester those freshman to stay in the weight room or on the track.

Make an effort to build a winning tradition.

Jeremiah Bartz (sports@frontiersman.com) is the Frontiersman sports editor