Hazing incident revealed at Plano High School

Hazing incident revealed at Plano High School
File: Another suburban school in Illinois is facing a hazing scandal. Multiple student athletes were arrested at Plano High School after allegedly sexually assaulting teammates. Flickr/Trevor Manternach
Hazing incident revealed at Plano High School
File: Another suburban school in Illinois is facing a hazing scandal. Multiple student athletes were arrested at Plano High School after allegedly sexually assaulting teammates. Flickr/Trevor Manternach

Hazing incident revealed at Plano High School

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Another school in the Chicago region is tackling its own hazing scandal. Members of suburban Plano High School’s football and basketball teams were arrested this week for allegedly sexually assaulting some of their teammates. The incidents took place in August 2012 to February of this year.

Dr. Eleazar Eusebio with the Chicago School of Professional Psychology said hazing rituals can be similar to bullying, but hazed students are likely to keep quiet and carry on the practice as a right of passage.

He said some students may feel that if it’s something they experienced, they have the right to do it to others.

“It seems as if we’ve given hazing a little more of a permission in some ways to exist from our own understanding of rights of passages; for example, sororities, fraternities, the military, sports teams,” he said.

Eusebio said hazing traditions may start out with something innocuous, but over time the tradition can get twisted to the point where people become physically and emotionally harmed.

He said rarely does the victim come forward to report the problem. Usually, it’s someone not involved who happens to find out about the practice.

Eusebio said schools should put strict anti-hazing policies in place. He said schools could also implement other team building programs to build leadership in healthy ways.

The Plano School District said it’s increasing supervision and altering locker room procedures as well as opening a student safety phone line.

Earlier this week, another student has come forward in the Maine West High School hazing scandal. The student’s filed a lawsuit alleging he was sexually assaulted in a soccer team hazing incident.