This list is the top 30 searches on Lycos for the week ending May 5, 2003:
1 X2: X-Men United
2 Tattoos
3 KaZaA
4 SARS
5 Dragonball
6 Kentucky Derby
7 American Idol
8 Prom Hairstyles
9 Britney Spears
10 Mother’s Day
11 The Matrix Reloaded
12 NFL
13 50 Cent
14 WWE
15 Atkins Diet
16 Las Vegas
17 NASCAR
18 Pamela Anderson
19 NBA
20 IRS
21 Marijuana
22 Yu-Gi-Oh!
23 Jennifer Lopez
24 Brooke Burke
25 Dixie Chicks
26 Baseball
27 Eminem
28 Harry Potter
29 Christina Aguilera
30 Iraq Rebuilding
Please note the type of subject that makes up the first 29, and then look at the 30th. How naive we are to let the subject of rebuilding Iraq fall to 30.
I suppose this gives us some idea of the median age level of the people surfing at Lycos. *GRINS*

Since I posted, more information has been made available about the hazing incident in Northbrook. I’ve seen footage of it on the TV, and listened to commentary on the radio.
It seems the girls organized this activity on their own, without the sanction of the school. It took place off the school grounds, and <u>legally</u> is not the school’s responsibility. At one time, this type of activity was allowed, but the school ended the practice when it became too rough.
The senior girls ordered yellow sweatshirts for themselves, and white ones for the juniors, and then invited the juniors to participate at a cost of $35-40. The principal wondered why anyone would accept an invitation to be hazed. I wonder why they stayed and put up with it when it got bad.
The juniors were huddled on the ground , surrounded by a circle of seniors, being smeared with all sorts of offensive things, and struck. Several people video taped the entire episode!
The best of the comments that I have heard so far have to do with responsibility. The KIDS should be held responsible for their actions , and so should their parents, since the girls are still minors.
The school had both the students and their parents sign a code of behavior at the start of the school year that would preclude behavior like this. While the senior girls will not be suspended, they have been banned from extracurricular activities. I bet the next howl we will hear will be from the parents of the girls who will not be allowed to go to prom!
A more militant opinion was that the police should have been called, and this should have been pursued legally. It would surely give other students pause for thought.
I don’t know yet how aggressively I’d pursue this. We need to work with younger children to instill respect for their classmates, rather than putting out fires in high school. And I STILL think hazing should be banned!

I was reading the Chicago Tribune, and came across this article http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-030508hazing,1,6268353.story?coll=chi%2Dnewslocal%2Dhed.
In a prosperous town North of Chicago, the junior and senior girls were having a “powder puff” football game, that turned into a hazing of the junior girls. The juniors were pelted with mud and feces, splattered with paint, and beaten up. Two of the girls needed medical attention.
Two assumptions made in the article truly bothered me. It was suggested that parents had provided alcohol, and also had helped to gather the feces used in the hazing. What parent in their right mind would have done that?? The sanitary considerations alone make this a dangerous and stupid activity, but what kind of message did they give their children? “It’s okay to play with feces, honey; they won’t hurt you at all!” “Go ahead and drink in public…..everyone else does!” “BASH that girl! You’ve hated her all year; now’s your chance to give her one!”
Where were the school officials who should have been present for a school activity? Was this planned to take place in the Forest Preserve so that school officials wouldn’t be there? And what about parents who were present? Why didn’t they stop it?
Hazing is inappropriate! ANYWHERE! I was involved in a hazing situation at college, and learned that even at that age, students still need guidance. The book “Lord of the Flies” runs through my mind every time I hear about students having the chance to assert their authority over classmates. We need to do a lot more to be sure that young people understand the need for social interaction, and how it works.
It’s old fashioned, but I’ve always used this as my guide: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Yep….the Golden Rule. Generations have used it successfully, but I’m beginning to worry that it’s going to fall by the wayside. Just how do you pursuade the junior girls that revenge isn’t sweet, and necessary? After all……they’d just be doing what has been done to them!
NO MORE HAZING!