Freshman Girls Sexually Hazed at Millburn High School in New Jersey
When I first saw this headline, I was prepared to read a horrific story about teen girls forced to have sex or something…so luckily, it’s not that bad. According to the New York Times, Millburn High, the top-ranked school in New Jersey, is under fire for its senior girls’ annual hazing rituals. The juiciest of them is the “Slut List,” which ranks and crassly describes a dozen or more of the incoming freshman girls. This year, “hundreds” of copies were passed out to the student body.
Here’s my favorite part of the story: “We’ve had girls — which is one of the bad things — obsessed that their names are on it, and girls who were upset that they didn’t make the list,” said the principal, William Miron. “It’s basically vulgar.”
The Scarlet Lettery sexual hazing isn’t the only ritual at Millburn; seniors also blow whistles in girls’ faces and push them into lockers, leaving them afraid to come back to school the next day.
The incidents were made public after a handful of parents complained to school officials and a hazing discussion went around a private email group for mothers. Parents in the e-mail group considered this year’s events to be worse than usual, but no one has been punished because none of the students will name names, and none of the teachers reported seeing any hazing.
What do you think? Is this a big deal, or just mean girls being mean girls?
