Student hazing and bullying have become endemic and intractable problems with often tragic outcomes. Headlines of abuse are becoming common with details of students inflicting egregious physical and emotional harm on other students. Hazing can include brutal physical acts, sexual assaults, mandatory binge drinking, forced calisthenics and other harmful conduct. Bullying, on the other hand, is any unwanted physical, verbal or other aggressive behavior by one student directed at another. While hazing is typically used to gain membership in a group, bullying uses tactics to exclude the victim.
To address this problem, Gov. Tom Wolf signed a bill to end the misconduct in May 2016, and to expand Pennsylvania’s anti-hazing law, 24 P.S. Section 5353. The law was previously limited to college students and now extends its reach to student perpetrators in grades 7 through 12. The law also requires private and public secondary schools to prepare written anti-hazing policies, post them on their websites, and provide all athletic coaches with copies. A violation qualifies as a third-degree misdemeanor. The law also allows secondary schools and colleges to punish students through fines, probation, suspension, or to withhold diplomas and transcripts. In more extreme cases, the amendments also permit students to be expelled and even face jail time.
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