The hazing issue resurfaced last week after three Wilson varsity baseball players were charged with sexually abusing at least two members of the JV team aboard a bus. Two coaches were charged with endangering the welfare of a child and are accused of turning a blind eye to the abuse.
Such incidents occur more frequently than most people realize, said Susan Lipkin, a psychologist from Port Washington, author of the book "Preventing Hazing."
"The common trend over the past five years or more has been basically to turn a boy into a girl by penetration," Lipkin told the paper. "In other words, they get engaged in homosexual play and then they call the victim gay because he’s been sodomized. Ironically, it’s the perpetrators that are committing the homosexual act."
Once arrests are made, a community often begins to polarize, said psychologist Doug P. Jowdy, of the University of Colorado. Some try to downplay the incident, while others overreact and feel there's no hope. Both groups should focus on healing the victims and those responsible for the incident, he said.
Lipkin suggested authorities should take steps to reward students for breaking "the code of silence" that allows hazing to occur. The victims and the bystanders, she said, need to be honored for coming forward and feel that their concerns are being heard.
State police did so Monday, announcing the arrest of the three Wilson players. Each was charged with a misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child under age 17, and felony third-degree aggravated sexual abuse.
