Slut List, Hazing Become More Worrisome At NJ High School

The senior girls of Dazed and Confused; Air Raid video after the jump

The NY Times spotlights the worries of some parents whose daughters are freshmen at NJ's well-regarded Millburn High School. Specifically, how senior girls' hazing of the frosh include a slut list ("A dozen or more names are written on a piece of notebook paper, with crass descriptions, and copies are passed around — hundreds this year, some say") and senior girls "blow[ing] whistles in some girls’ faces" and shoving "them into lockers."

The school's principal says of the slut list, "We’ve had girls — which is one of the bad things — obsessed that their names are on it, and girls who were upset that they didn’t make the list." Parents are upset that no one has been reprimanded, especially when their daughters are afraid to return to school.

But one senior girl reasoned, "Hazing has always been a tradition at Millburn. It’s never really a personal attack. As a freshman you get pushed on the first day, and it reinforces the fact that they’re seniors." And, yes, she was pushed when she entered the school and this year, she did push newbies but "Not more than anyone else." FWIW, famous alums include Anne Hathaway and stylist Rachel Zoe—and a part of Dazed and Confused's Air Raid scene is after the jump.

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By Jen Chung in News on September 19, 2009 3:40 PM

Comments [rss]

DOLPHIN

Teacher need the ability to disciplin kids. Bullying should not be tolerated. We need to avoid another Columbine.

Barbara

90% of what is said in that article is not true. There has been a "mob mentality" brewing with these freshman parents for a while now. They get each other all riled up over things that are absolute exaggerations by their overindulged children. The slut list is vile and distasteful but is NOT hazing. Telling girls to wear a certain shirt is a fun tradition that most of the girls love to participate in. Most of the complaining girls wore the shirts. NOTHING happens to someone who doesn’t wear a shirt. It is their choice. Blowing whistles in the hall (not in someone’s face) which is a senior tradition reflecting the general excitement about being a senior is not hazing.

I know that for the Times the better story is what the girls are saying, but there is another side here. Also, they would probably be interested in the phone calls being made by at least one family to parents of seniors threatening to call colleges to make sure they don’t get in. What has happened to innocent until proven guilty? Those parents would be wise to check first with their attorneys as to the legal ramifications of slander. Often we read about someone retracting false allegations but, unfortunately, the damage to the alleged wrongdoer’s reputation has already been done.

These 14 and 15 year old girls don’t understand the consequences of their hysterical and exaggerated accusations, but their parents should know better. I’m actually looking forward to three years from now when these freshman are seniors. Let’s see how ridiculous they feel about their whining then.

hneu has it right. This is "much ado about nothing." 90% of what is said in the NY Times article is not true. There has been a "mob mentality" brewing with these freshman parents for a while now. They get each other all riled up over things that are absolute exaggerations by their overindulged children. The slut list is vile and distasteful but is NOT hazing. Telling girls to wear a certain shirt is a fun tradition that most of the girls love to participate in. Most of the complaining girls wore the shirts. NOTHING happens to someone who doesn’t wear a shirt. It is their choice. Blowing whistles in the hall (not in someone’s face) which is a senior tradition reflecting the general excitement about being a senior is not hazing.

I know that for the Times the better story is what the girls are saying, but there is another side here. Shame on that reporter for reporting such a narrow story, just mentioning in passing that teachers have seen no bad behavior. Isn't that extremely relevant? Also, everyone would probably be interested in the phone calls being made by at least one family to parents of seniors threatening to call colleges to make sure they don’t get in. What has happened to innocent until proven guilty? Those parents would be wise to check first with their attorneys as to the legal ramifications of slander. Often we read about someone retracting false allegations but, unfortunately, the damage to the alleged wrongdoer’s reputation has already been done.

These 14 and 15 year old girls don’t understand the consequences of their hysterical and exaggerated accusations, but their parents should know better. I’m looking forward to three years from now when these freshman are seniors. Let’s see how ridiculous they feel about their whining then.

It's time for everyone to move on and let the kids concentrate on their studies.

Espiazul

Fight back. Don't be a mark. Don't play their games.

schizofriendly

"Now see, what's fascinating; is the way—that not only the school—but the entire community seems to be supporting this."

rcltrh

They just need to give teachers immunity from liability, then give them tasers and cattle prods and a lot could be done for the youth in this country. When I was a kid a teacher could smack you upside the head if they saw you picking on someone or misbehaving and not a parent one could do anything about it thanks to "In Loco Parentis" laws. Those laws still exist, however idiotic judges awarding frivolous lawsuits to little Muffys parents when she was made to sit down and behave by the big mean teacher who was just trying to control the spoiled little brat have made school discipline impossible. I was a teacher, then a principal, and now work with schools but outside the school system itself because of those very problems. You couldn't pay me enough to work in a classroom or as a principal again. Hazing in schools is a huge problem now that discipline cannot be implemented.

Gothamist_Cynic

LOL @ hazing in high school. I guess they can't wait till college.

Spirit of 76

"As a freshman you get pushed on the first day, and it reinforces the fact that they’re seniors."

Why do you need to push anyone around to prove you're a senior? Low self-esteem, anyone? When I was a senior, I just looked at freshmen as other students, the only difference being they'd be still in school a few more years after I moved on.

NannyState

If NJ girls need a "slut list" all they have to do is pick up a phone directory.

fosiacat

beat me to it.

Think2wice

That's awful. Is Freshmen hazing supposed to be a suburban thing?

As a Freshmen I expected to be tormented by Sophomores (not Seniors and Juniors who were off in their own little universe), but nothing ever happened. So I assumed Freshmen hazing was just an urban myth.

Ironically "Dazed and Confused" came out in my Freshmen year. My classmates and I had a hard time believing that upperclassmen could be that sadistic. To me, the town in "Dazed and Confused" seemed like a pretty stifling place compared to Crazy-Ass-Crooklyn. No wonder the Seniors in the boonies went ape-shit.

Steven

Hazing, being a senior, being a freshman is all relative. Next year those same seniors who think they're on top of the world right now will be little baby freshman at college next year while the freshman at high school will one day be seniors.