The truth about hazing

Over the past five years, there have been great efforts made by the Gunn High School Administration to remove hazing from Gunn High School. Hazing is any activity perpetrated by another student that would make a student physically or emotionally uncomfortable. The penalty for this is suspension, and it doesn’t matter if it the perpetrators are doing it to a friend or a stranger. Gunn High School has a zero-tolerance policy in regards to hazing.

Hazing can take many forms. When people think of hazing many think of brutal acts against the will of another.

While extreme cases of hazing can be self evident for being wrong, many people have a hard time understanding other acts, such as drawing an “F” on a freshman’s head, also constitutes hazing.

Some students knew what they did was wrong, while others thought their acts were benign. But any student who initiated or was involved in the hazing was suspended for up to three days.

Gunn High School will continue to take aggressive action on hazing. Veteran teachers have commented that hazing is down dramatically from years ago. We are proud that hazing is down and we will continue to do our part to make sure that all Gunn students feel as safe as possible when they are on the Gunn campus.

—Tom Jacoubowsky, Dean of Students