A Student Perspective on StopHazing’s New Online Course: Stand Up to Hazing™

August 8, 2023

Guest writer: Ella Allan-Rahill, Student Research-to-Practice intern*

I’ve been interning with StopHazing for a little over a year now and am about to enter my second year of college. Even before college, I experienced unhealthy groups, which could’ve created an environment for hazing. While I never experienced hazing myself, these unhealthy group environments made me feel alienated and I knew they could progress into something more harmful. Still, at the time, I didn’t feel I had the tools or support necessary to recognize or intervene to stop these unhealthy behaviors. There was minimal training or leadership to help guide me and I struggled with how to make these groups safer and more inclusive. I was at a loss.

When I started my work with StopHazing, I realized many of my peers had little to no idea of what hazing is. Because being able to recognize hazing is so important for preventing it and maintaining healthy groups, I was concerned about this gap in knowledge and the potential harm it could lead to. Entering college, I had to complete countless online safety trainings about alcohol and drugs, fire safety, sexual health, and more. However, I noticed that hazing was missing from these trainings. Even though I attend a small college without greek life, I knew hazing could still be a problem in teams and other organizations. I was surprised by the lack of representation of this topic in the trainings at orientation. Knowing that many of my peers likely had little idea of what hazing is, nevermind, how to effectively intervene in hazing situations, I knew something needed to change.

I went to the student engagement office at my college and spoke with the staff there about my concerns. I was happy to be met with curiosity and commitment to making the campus safer; I asked what hazing prevention efforts were already in place and I was able to share resources to help enhance these efforts on campus.

When StopHazing began developing the recently launched online course, StandUp to Hazing™, I was super excited about the idea of a quick online training that could help educate my peers and keep them safe. I had the opportunity to be a part of the piloting process for the course and it reminded me of many of the other online modules I had to complete as a part of my orientation for college. However, this online training felt much more engaging than the others I had completed. I would also note that it seemed applicable to a variety of ages and groups – plus it was only 20 minutes long. 

After finishing my first year of college I feel I have another lens to view this course with. Although I may be biased, and perhaps more exposed to hazing prevention as a StopHazing intern, I find this training to be even more applicable to my experience and necessary for any college or high school student. It feels like an efficient and effective way of ensuring all students are educated about hazing recognition and prevention, healthy and unhealthy groups, and bystander intervention. I could see it being incorporated into orientation programming or leadership training at school, or perhaps as a requirement for students participating in athletic teams, performing arts groups, and other student organizations.

I would strongly recommend getting in touch with the office of student affairs or student life at your college or university and finding out more about what hazing prevention efforts are in place. If you feel that your institution could use more hazing prevention education, StandUp to Hazing, along with others of StopHazing’s resources could be a great place to start. You could be the catalyst for creating positive change on your campus! 

You can find out for yourself by getting more information about the course here. Questions can be directed to meredith@stophazing.org

Another opportunity to get involved with hazing prevention and advocacy could be through joining SNAP – StopHazing’s Student Network for Advocacy & Prevention.

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