When kids go off to college – especially young men who want to join a fraternity or play a sport – parents often warn them about the dangers of hazing. No one wants their college student to be injured (or worse) in a hazing incident.
As a parent, you also don’t want your student to be accused of hazing. It is, in fact, a crime here in Arkansas as well as in other states across the country.
How is hazing defined under Arkansas law?
Arkansas law defines hazing as a “willful act on or off the property of any school, college, university, or other educational institution…when the conduct is directed against any other student and done for the purpose of intimidating the student attacked by threatening him or her with social or other ostracism or of submitting such student to ignominy, shame, or disgrace among his or her fellow students, and acts calculated to produce such results.”
It can include the “playing of abusive or truculent tricks…upon another student to frighten or scare him or her” or “for the purpose of humbling the pride, stifling the ambition, or impairing the courage of the student attacked or to discourage him or her from remaining in that school…or reasonably to cause him or her to leave the institution rather than submit to such acts.”
Under the law, hazing is “limited to those actions taken and situations created in connection with initiation into or affiliation with an organization, extracurricular activity, or sports program.”
Even if someone doesn’t initiate a hazing activity or even actively engage in it, they can still face arrest and prosecution. It’s illegal to “knowingly engage in hazing or encourage, aid, or assist any other student, alumnus, or volunteer or employee of a fraternal organization in hazing….or fail to report promptly his or her knowledge or any reasonable information within his or her knowledge….”
The charges can go beyond hazing
Hazing itself is a Class B misdemeanor offense. It can also result in whatever consequences a school considers appropriate, including expulsion. Arkansas colleges and universities have their own written policies on hazing.
If someone is injured, permanently disabled or killed, a student can face added, much more serious charges that can change the trajectory of their life. That’s why parents must take the matter seriously if their child is facing hazing-related charges. Getting experienced legal guidance is the best first step.