[Mishmash] Horrific football hazing case shakes NM town

[Fred Atkinson]

    What I have got to say about it?  That is the sixty-four million
dollar question.

    When I was a sophomore in high school, I was a member of a high
school band that practiced hazing.  I had just moved to that area.

    I was the new guy.  One of the 'upper classmen' decided he was going
to make an impression on this new rookie who had just moved into the
area.  When I first met him, I tried to be nice to him.  He told me to
'go soak my head'.

    When we went to New Orleans to play for the Saints Football game
halftime show, we stayed on the Naval base in one of the dorms there.

    That 'upper classsman' and two other upper classmen cornered me and
forced me down on my bunk.  I really had a problem with this and I admit
I was a bit of a smartass because of his attitude towards me.  But that
is not justification for what they and others were about to do.

    He hit me in the mouth because I refused to salute him so I got up
and punched him out.  I had him pinned against the wall and he was
completely defensive.  Every punch I threw at him connected to his jaw.
He couldn't even get his hands in front of his face.  His two upper
classmen buddies were so surprised that they froze. When they finally
recovered from their surprise, they pulled me off of him and threw me
through the air across the room.  I crashed into a wall of lockers and
fell down and hit the floor.  When I got up to face them, they turned
and ran like hell.  I chased them but they got away from me.  Because I
have unusually short legs for my height, I am a rather slow runner.

    Well, they went around and told everyone that I had started the
fight, which was completely untrue.  I had only defended myself in the
manner both my father and the band director had taught me to when
someone was physically abusing me.

    For the next twenty-four hours, people were punching me, kicking me,
trying to knock me down, and generally inflicting as much abuse as they
could.  They were going to teach this rookie about hitting upper
classmen (never mind that it was in self defense).

    When we returned to the dorm that night, about six of them jumped
me.  Several of them held me while one hit me.  Then he (the one that
hit me) put me into a headlock with my head forced downward and we fell
to the ground when the others let me go.  He caused the top of my head
to ram into that concrete reinforced floor under the weight of both of
us.  It was a miracle I wasn't hurt from that fall.  But it hurt like
hell.

    I struggled a bit and managed to break loose.  We both got back to
our feet and I punched him twice in the mouth for ramming my head into
the floor.

    My mistake was being merciful.  I punched him twice and stopped.  He
hit me in the eye and though I was hit a number of times as a kid, I
never remember being hit that hard.  It was like being hit with a piece
of iron.

    Blood gushed out of the cut over my eye and I became soaked in it.
My vision went double (and it took about six to eight months before my
double vision went away) even though I could barely see.  At that point,
some of the other band members broke it up.  Two of the band fathers
(who drove the buses that took us to New Orleans) got the bleeding
stopped and took me to the base dispensary.  They had to put three
stitches over the top of my right eyebrow.  Several hours later when we
had gone to the city to look around, I became so sick (which caused me
to empty the entire contents of my stomach, keeping it polite) that they
decided to put me in a camper that one of the band parents had brought
along and let me sleep since I obviously wasn't well enough to tour New
Orleans.  The lady that drove the camper was a registered nurse and she
took very good care of me.

    When we got home from New Orleans, my parents took me for a skull
x-ray.  The surgeon that x-rayed my skull said that there was no
possible way that a single blow to my eye could've caused that much
damage unless the kid had something in his hand.  My father was
absolutely furious.  He called the band director and had quite a
conversation with him.  Those upper classmen had told him that I started
every fight, which was a complete lie.  When my father told him what
actually happened, he checked it out.  When he pressed them, several of
the band students admitted that they started the fight and that I never
hit anyone until I had been hit.  The band director apologized to my
father and expressed that he was very sorry for what happened.

    You want to know what I say about this?  I say that hazing is a
ticking time bomb waiting to go off.  There have been deaths and serious
injuries as a result of irresponsible kids inflicting abuse upon other
kids.  It also breeds aggressive and abusive behavior.

    You should see a movie called 'Broken Pledges'.  It is a true story
about a woman named Eileen Stevens.  Her son was killed in a hazing
incident.  She led the fight to get the first anti-hazing law passed in
New York state.  It is on television periodically but you can probably
rent a copy of it through your local video store.  Linda Gray (who also
played Sue Ellen on Dallas) played Eileen Stevens and I must say she
really outdid herself.

    At last count, I understand that all but six states have anti-hazing
laws.  I say good for Eileen Stevens and everyone who supported her.
Unfortunately, New Mexico is not one that has passed an anti-hazing law.

    Today, I sent the governor of New Mexico a note telling him about my
experience with hazing and pointed out the situation in Las Vegas, New
Mexico.  I asked him to please help to take action to pass an
anti-hazing law in this state.  I'll be interested in hearing what his
response turns out to be.

    In addition to New Mexico, Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, South Dakota,
and Wyoming have as yet not passed anti-hazing laws (see
www.stophazing.org).

    If you live in any of these states, I'd urge you to mail the link to
this news story to the politicians of your state and ask them to please
enact an anti-hazing law.  It could save someone's life or preserve
their well-being.  It could be *your* child who you protect from harm.

    Regards,




Fred

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Carole" <cbower at frontiernet.net>
To: "Mishmash" <mishmash at mishmash.net>
Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2008 8:52 PM
Subject: Re: [Mishmash] Horrific football hazing case shakes NM town


that is terrible.  the coaches need to be prosecuted for neglect.  the
boys
who did this also need to go to reform school.  what do you have to say
fred?  there was no comment from you.

-------Original Message-------

From: Fred Atkinson
Date: 9/23/2008 9:01:24 PM
To: Mishmash
Subject: [Mishmash] Horrific football hazing case shakes NM town

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Sep23/0,4670,FootballTeamHazing,00.html

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