Bullying and hazing in schools: How sport and physical education can be part of the problem and part of the

Roger Rees - Adelphi University

This presentation looked at examples from American schools to show how public rituals attached to sport can reinforce a narrow perception of masculinity that can and sometimes does enable hazing and bullying behaviour by athletes. This behaviour was linked to the broader problem of bullying in schools. In American schools, athletes (particularly male athletes) typically stand at the top of the “pecking order” of social status, and model masculinity for lower status boys. If athletes haze and bully they are legitimizing this behaviour for the rest of the student body. Alternatively, if they reject bullying and hazing and accept ethnic, physical and sexual diversity they can set a more positive tone for the rest of the school.

He suggested that athletes can be encouraged to model positive behaviour that can challenge traditional stereotypes of masculinity, not to bully and haze by using models such as
Hellison's Teaching Responsibility through Physical Education, and
Student Athlete Leadership Team (SALT) Program.

In summary, he suggested that sport and physical education can be part of the problem of anti-social behaviour in schools and part of the solution, depending on how we use them. Finally, any antibullying and hazing programs we develop need to be part of school-wide (and community-wide) initiatives.