Phasing out hazing

If anyone doubts local attitudes have changed about "hazing," ask the Wasatch High baseball players who were suspended from school faster than a double play.

What once passed for "horseplay" has become fodder for the police blotter. In this case, half-a-dozen boys — rough-housing in a St. George motel — piled on half-a-dozen others. Improper contact ensued, though the victims claimed they didn't even feel victimized.

No matter.

This is 2006. And school officials are not about to get cavalier, especially since they can now be held legally responsible.

One reason for current attitudes is the Sky View High incident involving Brian Seamons several years ago. There, teammates taped a naked Seamons to a towel rack and brought a girl from the school in to look at him. They thought it was a harmless "initiation." But when the national media descended on Cache Valley, reputations were ruined and regulations quickly rewritten.

The Seamons incident still stands as a fluke of sorts. Being taped naked to a towel rack creates a stark mental image of an "innocent victim." And the story took on almost biblical proportions, with people "washing their hands" of responsibility and the ballplayers — decent kids for the most part — being cast in the roll of crucifiers. For the media, it was too juicy to resist. The public couldn't get enough. In the end, it wasn't the finest hour for American journalism.

Still, despite the sensationalism, the incident did lead to reform. And that in turn has triggered the current caution when dealing with hazing incidents. Amid all the bad news spewed about Cache Valley's citizens in the tabloids then (one editor referred to them as "Neanderthals"), the good news is other young men and women have likely avoided a similar fate and similar humiliation.

That seems to be the case with the Wasatch High athletes. Investigations continue. Criminal charges are a possibility. But regardless of the outcome, it's certain other students can see that abusing people will not stand. Hazing incidents still happen. Now, however, they take place in the shadows and are often ferreted out.