Initiations have taken place at Samohi in past
There’s an occurrence that takes place here toward the end of nearly every academic year, a rite of passage of sorts for the incoming freshmen about to embark on the final chapter of their K-12 educational journey.
Many call it “initiation,” some might classify it as a form of hazing. Regardless, some Malibu High School parents say the welcoming that some incoming seniors have traditionally given to incoming freshman is a cause for concern.
In a message blast to the school community through its eMHS mailing list, Liz Cowgill, an eighth grade and ninth grade counselor at Malibu, warned parents about the upcoming “initiation,” stressing that the activity is neither condoned nor sponsored by the school.
496,“The 11th graders, much to our disappointment, have always instigated initiation every spring,” Cowgill states in the e-mail. “Initiation is illegal because it is hazing.”
The initiation for girls usually involves the seniors throwing condiments on the eighth graders as they roll in the sand, much more violent for boys who might get paddled or forced to fight, according to Cowgill.
Perhaps most concerning about the initiation is the after party thrown by the juniors, Cowgill continues, though she did not elaborate on details.
Her initial posting was followed by several messages by parents expressing concerns of the activities, taking place outside of adult supervision, some calling it pointless.
Neither the exact location nor the time are usually made directly available to the school’s administration but the information is often picked up through conversations and rumors. The event this year was believed to have taken place on June 6.
Administrators said they take every step necessary to prevent the initiation, contacting the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station when they do learn of a possible location and time, asking sheriffs to check on the event.
The buzz for initiation usually starts in the early spring when some eighth graders begin inquiring about whether the occurrence will continue, according to Malibu Principal Mark Kelly.
Counselors visit with each eighth grader to speak about the practice, telling them they don’t need to participate in order to achieve a high social status on campus, often accompanied with an 11th grader who didn’t go through initiation.
“It’s nice to have students speak to other students about not participating,” Kelly said.
Volunteers are also enlisted to contact every eighth grade parent to make them aware of the initiation.
The origin of the tradition is unknown but did begin sometime during former Principal Mike Matthews tenure between 1993 and 2004. The first senior class at Malibu High School graduated in 1996.
34B,“There were some instance of it and we took a lot of action,” Matthews, currently the district’s assistant superintendent for human resources, said. “It’s communicating with the eighth graders and communicating with the soon-to-be seniors and doing everything possible to quell it.
“It’s not an every year thing, we heard rumors of it and did everything possible at that point forward to stop it.”
The induction is considered to be a dying tradition at Malibu with the number of participants reportedly dwindling at every event.
Kathy Wisnicki, a Malibu parent and school board member, said that she heard there were only about a handful of students who participated this year. Neither of Wisnicki’s children participated during their eighth grade years.
“I think that the eighth graders get afraid and don’t end up going,” Wisnicki said.
At least one student is trying to reverse the tradition and put a positive spin on initiation.
Following Cowgill’s post, a member of the class of 2009 said that the incoming senior girls are hoping to instead start a new practice of bonding, assigning a “big sister” senior with a “little sister” freshman, much like in sororities.
The new tradition will involve only slight humiliation at worst and will not involve drinking or drugs. All drivers will be juniors who have had their driver’s license for more than a year, given them the legal ability to carry a passenger, the student continues.
Wisnicki said a reason why initiation is an occurrence at Malibu and not the other two high schools in the district is because of the small close-knit campus, which includes grades 6-12.
68F,“It’s one of the things that can happen when you mix two groups and I don’t think the Samo 12th graders have as much access to the incoming freshman in that way,” Wisnicki said.
The initiation issue at Malibu has reportedly never reached the Board of Education, some members saying they were unaware that it even existed.
“I don’t remember coming to our radar screen,” Jose Escarce, the board vice president, said. “It’s never been mentioned as an issue.
“I have never heard it being a problem, but if there is, then I’m certain we will address it,” he said.
The reasons why students subject themselves to the humiliation that can accompany hazing is to have a sense of belonging, according to Vanessa Van Petten, a teen counselor who attended the Santa Monica-Malibu schools.
“The truth is no one wants to participate in hazing, but it’s a peer pressure thing,” she said. “A lot of kids feel the physical pain is better than the emotional pain of not being included and that is what’s so sad.”
The problem with hazing is that it is cyclical in nature, those who were hazed feeling the need to inflict the practice on another.
“A lot of time it’s the power hungry preying on the weak kids,” she said.
She suggested that teenagers stand their own ground, ignore the hazing tradition and don’t fall victim to peer pressure.
“Saying that the (activity) isn’t fun can often make you sort of not their perfect target,” she said.
Past incidents at Santa Monica
Incidents of initiation have not been isolated to Malibu, Samohi experiencing its share in the past several years in the athletics and marching band departments. Such activities are not known to currently occur.
33F,“We don’t have any kind of rite of passage or initiation because it’s against the law,” Principal Hugo Pedroza said in reference the California Education Code that bans hazing. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s not allowed and it’s not practiced in the district.”
Pedroza added that starting this year, the high school will sponsor a freshman camp where the new students will be given a tour of the campus.
Norm Lacy, the athletic director at Santa Monica High School, said that there is a zero tolerance policy with hazing and initiation in this department.
“Anything that would consciously influence an athlete that wouldn’t be positive wouldn’t be tolerated in this office,” Lacy said.
Lacy meets with coaches every year to be clear that any induction-related activities are not allowed if it can be perceived as denigration.
One of the teams that have engaged in a hazing-type activity in the past was the cheerleading squad, Lacy said, activities including “kidnapping,” though the parents were always notified beforehand.
“We say you can’t do that, (even) as innocent as it may seem,” he said.
The band experienced an incident about a year about when a sophomore was reportedly hazed.
Tina Harris-Rouquette said her son, currently a junior, was hazed as a freshman when he joined the band’s saxophone section, surprisingly hazed again his sophomore year.
The student, who no longer is in the band, was walking through the Pico Neighborhood en route to haze a few freshman when a group of students jumped from behind trash cans and threw eggs at him, Harris-Rouquette said.
The reason given for why the former band member was hazed was because he had not fulfilled on the initiation his freshman year, she added.
Several students have since apologized.
Harris-Rouquette added that her son had been bullied growing up.
There have been varying versions of the actual incident, according to Terry Sakow, the marching band director at the high school. Sakow added that he doesn’t believe initiation has occurred since the incident, which he said left some bitter feelings.
“Nobody wants to go near that,” Sakow said.
The initiation always occurs outside of the band room, Sakow said, and he is not aware of the activities until well after it happens. He recalled seeing a photo of a trombone section player blindfolded underneath the LAX sign early in his teaching career.
“I always go over with the section leaders that these are the guidelines,” Sakow said.
He added that parents will sometimes know about the initiation and will not inform him.
Samohi parents said that hazing is absolutely out of the question and believes the high school does a good job of keeping the activities under control.
Leslie Wizan, whose son is on the water polo team, said she has never heard of any initiation-type activity.
“Certainly kids will be kids, but when it becomes things with humiliating, degrading and mean, then it can’t be tolerated,” she said.
Harris-Rouquette said that she would prefer to see a more positive initiation practice whereby the students would engage in bonding that doesn’t involve humiliation. She said her husband attended a school in France where initiation involved community service.
“Something like that would be fine if it’s a way to integrate the younger kids with the older kids,” she said.
Jump hedline: Initiation has taken place at Samohi in the past
Suggested pullquote: “The truth is no one wants to participate in hazing, but it’s a peer pressure thing.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 14, 2008. Read the original PDF.