I thought school hazing was just for students

I just heard about this story out of Chicago where a school superintendent created a video of fake interviews with new teachers (using their real answers to other questions) and then had it posted on the district's website. I suggest you watch the video clip on the link, as I think it gives a better feel for the story then the article alone does. Another article about the local reaction had a quote describing the whole thing as "just some new teacher hazing."

When I was in high school hazing was big news. My 8th grade year there was some hazing that involved a girl being forced to drink motor oil. She spent significant time in the hospital and had many lingering health problems. The older students were expelled, charged with assault (and various other things) and I believe at least one of them ended up serving jail time. Not surprisingly, the school instituted a no-tolerance policy and the students heard a lot about why hazing is wrong and dangerous and why it would not be allowed.

I think my old experiences are part of the reason why it is so strange to hear about a superintendent hazing students. I always thought of schools and administration in general being very strongly against hazing. I know that I would never be okay with any of my students being involved in any hazing activity. I did notice when I first started teaching here that hazing was listed as one of the "offenses" on our discipline report forms. Last year one of my students was looking at his write up for another problem and asked me what hazing meant. I remember being pretty pleased by the fact that he had one idea what it was.

That all being said, I find myself wondering what I would do if I was a teacher included on this interview tape. I don't think the video itself would bother me. I have seen these type of things before, and they can be funny in the right context (I remember being really amused by one that Weird Al did in which he "asked" Celine Dion about how terrible it was to be captured by cannibals and she responded "I loved waking up to the smell of my mother cooking in the morning"), but it would really bother me that they video was put out there for students to see. I believe that one of the many jobs of a good administration is to support its teachers. This video just serves to undermine these teachers. I find that offensive, and if I was involved my gut reaction would be to quit and find a job in another district. However, I have to remember that all of the teachers involved are new to the district and many may be in their first year overall. I know that finding that first job can be very stressful and I can't imagine turning around and going right back out into the job search. It is one thing to be a veteran teacher out looking for a job; it is another to be a teacher a month into your first year out looking for another job.

Regardless of whether or not the teachers are out looking for new jobs, there are more than a couple of people that think the superintendent should be. Without knowing anything else about how good of a superintendent this guy is, I am not sure I want to go quite that far. However, I know that most students get punished for hazing. I don't think we should treat a superintendent any differently.