Many state laws (New York and Pennsylvania) define the crime of hazing as: "When in the course of another person's initiation or affiliation with any organization, he intentionally or recklessly engages in conduct which creates a substantial risk of physical injury, etc." Hazing is often classified as a class A misdemeanor. Even though the Mepham-Bellmore High School football team incidents were described as hazing, the cruelty of the acts made them into serious felonies.

It is sad to say, that even though 42 other states have anti-hazing legislation and that there have been hazing reforms in Greek letter societies around the country, there is still widespread hazing on athletic teams in both colleges and high schools.

A recent national study by Alfred College and the NCAA found that four out of five college athletes (a total of 250,000) have been hazed. High school figures are less available but everyone reports that they are in the big numbers. By everyone's account, Mepham-Bellmore has had a good school system and their teams have been consistent winners and have a lot of community support. So why is an excellent suburban school district now beset with the agonizing woes we read about daily? Everyone is affected: team members, coaches, school administrators, teachers, parents, alumni, police and court officials and all of us who read with wonder and profound sadness this tale of mindless teenage aggression.

Is our confusion about Mepham once again an instance of adult blindness? Is it like Columbine, where the secret lives of the perpetrators were being played out in a nether world unbeknownst to the adults around them? Are the words hazing or bullying vivid or descriptive enough? Creepy, cruel or soulless sounds more accurate. When broom handles become offensive weapons which cause physical and psychic pain which does not easily heal in one's lifetime, we can be struck speechless.

Deadly hazing incidents seem to be always happening even though there is growing opposition and laws to curb them. Why do practices that so often do so much harm persist? The answer may be that not everyone believes hazing to be bad. Here are some actual statements made about why hazing is good for you:

"Well, not everyone agrees that it's such a big deal." "Rites of passage make a man (or woman) out of you." "You need to be initiated with some pain for you to appreciate being one of the fold." "To be worthy of the companionship of the already initiated, you had better show you are tough enough to belong." "Everyone knows it works in the Marines." "Even though there are a lot of crybaby reformers around, ask any old-timer and they will say that nothing makes a real doctor like staying up three nights without much sleep."

That side of the argument has fewer supporters than it used to have. Too many bad incidents have soured many, especially parents who no longer care for macho rites that sometimes leave their children dead or maimed.

We are also more aware now that those who are assigned to carry out hazing are often on a power trip, tinged with sadistic satisfaction. In their efforts to inflict pain or humiliation, they often lose control. Meanness and recklessness takes over. Almost anything can happen. Those of you who saw recent footage of college girls smearing feces on each other in an initiation rite should need no other evidence.

The problems got so serious on many of our campuses that hundreds of fraternities and sororities were closed down. Some of these still operate illegally. They defiantly conduct dangerous hazing practices using alcohol in ways that have caused deaths around the country. What seems most bizarre and shameful is that there are cases where this illegal activity has been protected by alumni. They remembered their good old days in the frat house. They don't want their hallowed practices stopped.

A national anti-hazing organization called Stop Hazing has come into existence. It claims that "hazing at any age can be exceedingly harmful, but hazing at the high school level is particularly troubling." They say that all the reasons we know about teenagers and their susceptibility to peer pressure and unrestrained behavior are present in high school hazing. Yet while colleges have cracked down on hazing, high schools are relatively free of anti-hazing policies and programs.

Stop Hazing reports a number of recommendations that are being adopted by many colleges. They are equally useful for high schools. They are:

1. Spell out a clear prohibition of all hazing activities.

2. Sign anti-hazing contracts with all athletes.

3. Get student athletic committees to endorse and educate about the danger of hazing.

4. Designate a person or persons who can confidentially receive all reports of hazing.

5. Run anti-hazing workshops for athletes, coaches and athletic administrators.

6. Publish a list of the consequences for hazing including the informing of security and law enforcement persons.

7. Sponsor a highly planned program of positive initiation events for all athletic teams.

8. Make the evaluation of coaches include the on campus and off campus behavior of their team members.

Some bad behavior is not preventable, but much of it is. Like everything else that's hard in life, providing young athletes with rules and regulations of how they should treat each other, should be no less important than how they play the game.