Dec 14, 2007 6:16 pm US/Pacific
Reports Of Hazing Surface At Palo Alto High
Reporting
Thuy Vu
PALO ALTO (CBS 5) ―
It's a school on the Peninsula well regarded for its academic performance. But reports are now surfacing of alleged harassment at Palo Alto High School.
The hazing accounts appear in this month's issue of "The Viking," a student sports magazine at the school. Peter Johnson and Noah Sneider spent a month talking to hazing victims and perpetrators.
"Some guy got punched in the groin multiple times for no real reason," Johnson said. "Someone had to eat a cake sprinkled with a full layer of pubic hair, which is pretty disgusting."
"They sprinkled the hair on top and gave it to one of the underclassmen to eat. He threw up almost immediately," said Sneider.
The two students uncovered at least a dozen hazing incidents involving student athletes between 2000 and 2007. All the victims and perpetrators requested anonymity, but the magazine says each account was corroborated by at least two eyewitnesses.
"I was shocked when I was doing these interviews," Johnson said.
The article has provoked dismay among teachers and administrators.
"As many of my colleagues said, I didn't think Paly was the kind of place where you see those kinds of events," said Ellen Austin, Journalism teacher at Palo Alto High.
The principal has written a letter to parents and the community, saying "We are concerned for the victims of these incidents and are outraged that these acts were committed by members of our teams."
The principal has also met with coaches to discuss teaching athletes about the dangers of hazing.
Both Peter Johnson and Noah Sneider hope their report will change the culture of secrecy and acceptance that surrounds hazing.
"I hope that people who are thinking about doing hazing think twice about doing it," Sneider said. "Most of the responsibility lies with us, as students, to be responsible and mature."
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