EDGE story on sports bullying and hazing

EDGE Publications asked me to write a story about some recent incidents of sports bullying in youth sports.

Although such incidents seem to be making headlines with increasing familiarity, that does not necessarily mean they are happening more frequently.

"There’s no data to show growth or change," said [Alfred University dean Norm] Pollard, who led a 1999 study on hazing among college and high school athletes. "This day we put more stuff about our lives out there. There’s less filters. There is more inclination to expose more of one’s life now through things like Twitter and Facebook, so there may be more opportunities to report."

The Alfred study found that the percentage of athletes who get hazed in high school (22 percent) virtually stays the same at the college level. Overall, 48 percent of high school students in the study were hazed. 

No discipline is exempt from hazing--incidents have been reported with choral groups, cheerleading squads and a surprising number of church groups and honor societies--but clearly some sports have more problems with physical and sexual assaults than others.

Story notes National Federation of High Schools materials for coaches on practices to follow and behaviors to stop do not mention specifically homophobic slurs:

In its informational brochure for coaches called "Sexual Harassment and Hazing," NFHS notes that sexually suggestive comments, questions or actions by coaches can create an anything-goes atmosphere in which athletes are more at risk to be abused. But the brochure does not make any specific mention of use of homophobic terms such as "faggot" or challenging somebody’s masculinity or orientation--things which occur almost as a matter of course in many sports programs at all levels, from youth sports to the pros. There is no mention at all of harassment of LGBT individuals.

"We know from research that anti-LGBT harassment is one of the most common kinds of harassment in schools," said Pat Griffin, director of the Gay Lesbian Education Network’s program Changing the Game. "GLSEN research also tells us that it is vital for schools to adopt harassment policies that specifically name sexual orientation and gender identity in order for these policies to effectively address anti-LGBT harassment and hazing. If we want to stop anti-LGBT harassment and hazing in sports, we have to address it specifically in all athletic department policies."