Needham Girls HS Hazing

[Unregistered]

Can you not read?

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/needh...nsions/?page=2

When you say "everyone at Needham," who exactly are you referring to? Read that article again and tell us when the administrators found out about it.

Stop spreading rumors that are not true. You are one of the ones making this worse for all involved.

What can't you comprehend from the article?

"Dan Gutekanst, Needham Public Schools superintendent, declined yesterday to provide details about the alleged “initiation ritual’’ of new players, which he said he learned about Nov. 4."

"Gutekanst said that school administrators learned of the incident from a WBZ-TV reporter and that they took action immediately.

[Unregistered]

Can you not read?

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/needh...nsions/?page=2

When you say "everyone at Needham," who exactly are you referring to? Read that article again and tell us when the administrators found out about it.

Stop spreading rumors that are not true. You are one of the ones making this worse for all involved.

I think you are the one spreading rumors. No parent went to the administration complaining of the incident. Do you get that fact? And I'll bet all of the parents and players were excited by the fact that their high school team would be playing in the District tournament with a pretty good chance of advancing certainly beyond the first game. Then along comes WBZ to pop that balloon.

[Unregistered]

http://needham.patch.com/articles/ne...azing-policies

Some interesting points made in this article.

"In light of a girls' soccer team "initiation" that prompted multiple suspensions, students at Needham High School (NHS) will be getting another look at what constitutes hazing"

In other words, not everybody agrees with what defines "hazing" and the school is making an effort to clarify that point.

"We will be revisiting these policies with every member of the school committee in the days and weeks to come,"

So even the school committee apparently needs clarification, not just the kids on the soccer team.

"As reported by WBZ and parents of NHS students, players on the soccer team were blindfolded by teammates and driven to a practice field. From there, at least one was told to wear a dog collar while others were hit in the face with pies."

That right there contradicts the initial WBZ report that stated "The school is investigating allegations that the freshman girls were pulled on dog leashes while blindfolded and then hit in the face with pies – one so hard her nose bled.Sources tell the I-Team the leashes left marks on their necks."

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2010/11/0...ed-for-hazing/

That same report also stated "WBZ-TV’s I-Team broke the story Monday night" when in fact there own web site shows a story dated the Saturday before.

Very poor reporting on the part of WBZ that stirred up a hornets net causing everyone involved to over react. WBZ should be called out for their contribution to this mess.

[Unregistered]

Some interesting points made in this article.

"In light of a girls' soccer team "initiation" that prompted multiple suspensions, students at Needham High School (NHS) will be getting another look at what constitutes hazing"

In other words, not everybody agrees with what defines "hazing" and the school is making an effort to clarify that point.

"We will be revisiting these policies with every member of the school committee in the days and weeks to come,"

So even the school committee apparently needs clarification, not just the kids on the soccer team.

"As reported by WBZ and parents of NHS students, players on the soccer team were blindfolded by teammates and driven to a practice field. From there, at least one was told to wear a dog collar while others were hit in the face with pies."

That right there contradicts the initial WBZ report that stated "The school is investigating allegations that the freshman girls were pulled on dog leashes while blindfolded and then hit in the face with pies – one so hard her nose bled.Sources tell the I-Team the leashes left marks on their necks."

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2010/11/0...ed-for-hazing/

That same report also stated "WBZ-TV’s I-Team broke the story Monday night" when in fact there own web site shows a story dated the Saturday before.

Very poor reporting on the part of WBZ that stirred up a hornets net causing everyone involved to over react. WBZ should be called out for their contribution to this mess.

Interesting tactic. Blame the press.

Not the fault of the coach who was in charge. Not the fault of the players who did the hazing. Not the fault of the parents who failed in their attempt to go to court to have their little "angels" reinstated.

I guess people in Needham aren't too familiar with the notion of responsibility or accepting the consequences of ones actions.

[Unregistered]

I think you are the one spreading rumors. No parent went to the administration complaining of the incident. Do you get that fact? And I'll bet all of the parents and players were excited by the fact that their high school team would be playing in the District tournament with a pretty good chance of advancing certainly beyond the first game. Then along comes WBZ to pop that balloon.

I apologize. I think I misunderstood what you were originally saying. It appears we are on the same side of this. Again, I apologize.

[Unregistered]

Then along comes WBZ to pop that balloon.

Don't you mean "Then along comes a violation of MIAA and school rules to pop that balloon"?

[Unregistered]

Example of when parents need to get involved because the corrupt high school tradition intimidates children to accept illegal activity. I think that this is from Mississippi.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/11/11/...iref=obnetwork

Thank goodness that a parent was doing his job rather than allowing the coach or the school tradition to dictate matters. Parents need to stay on top of private coaching and school decisions.

[beentheredonethat]

At this point everything has pretty much been said about the event itself. The punishment was handed out and served. Anyone who is still pushing this issue clearly has an axe to grind and maybe it is time to start questioning what the agendas are behind bringing this event to light. Clearly this whole thing got started because someone brought the incident to the media. It seems pretty clear that the bulk of the participants themselves didn't really view this as hazing event, not that one or two might not have or that the event wasn't hazing as we now define it, but the likelihood is that this originated with someone who has much bigger issues with the program than the events of this incident. The choice to go to media instead of going through proper channels to lodge a complaint actually should tell us a lot about the people behind all of this. Clearly when you go to the media, you are more interested in making a big splash than having justice served. The only thing the media can do is try people in the court of public opinion. Think about that for a moment. We should realize that none of this was about justice and if wasn't about justice what was it about?

[Unregistered]

There is no way that this started outside of Needham. 3 scenarios to think about. All involve someone who wants to attack the coach because clearly they want Coach T replaced.

Parent of an underclassman on the team.
Parent who had an older kid go through the program and another coming up next year.
Parent who had an older kid who didn't find success in the program.

Look for someone who has relationships with people over at WBZ. Might be a neighbor of someone on the team or someone close enough to hear a discussion about the event an know how to run with it.

In any event the person who went to the media is pretty twisted because it is pretty clear this was all about personal agendas. Talk about a low life. Doesn't matter who they will hurt as long as they get what they want.

[Unregistered]

The cover up continues.

What are the twisted motives of the people trying sweep this under the rug now? I disagree with their self-serving misrepresentations. I hope that others also disagree.

Anybody being an apologist for what happened is pretty twisted.

When the lawyer/business partner of the coach involves the court and you believe his utterly fatuous and false claim that this was all about team building, then I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.

There are plenty of loose ends and things that just don't smell right about what went on in Needham and how all of this was handled by the team, coach, and administration.

Clean up the program!

[Unregistered]

I agree with BTDT that all that can be said on this has. However, whether the school board, girls on the team, etc need clarification on what hazing is doesn't really matter. What matters is the MIAA's interpretation of it, and according to that standard, this was hazing. Whether you agree with that definition or not doesn't matter. THEY SHOULD'VE KNOWN BETTER.

[Unregistered]

I think you are the one spreading rumors. No parent went to the administration complaining of the incident. Do you get that fact? And I'll bet all of the parents and players were excited by the fact that their high school team would be playing in the District tournament with a pretty good chance of advancing certainly beyond the first game. Then along comes WBZ to pop that balloon.

How do you think WBZ got the info. One of the parents whose daughter was hazed gave he info, because they were afraid to be identified because of the pack mentality of the other soccer parents.

[Unregistered]

Clean up the program![/QUOTE]

[Unregistered]

There have been a lot of issues in Needham and the program (like all high school) should be held accountable

You have program that has been known to have kids that do not live in Needham playing on the Vasrsity team (BTDT - ???)

It amazes me that parents did not complain about this more. Really why should someone from D???? have spot on the Needham team

[Unregistered]

At this point everything has pretty much been said about the event itself. The punishment was handed out and served. Anyone who is still pushing this issue clearly has an axe to grind and maybe it is time to start questioning what the agendas are behind bringing this event to light. Clearly this whole thing got started because someone brought the incident to the media. It seems pretty clear that the bulk of the participants themselves didn't really view this as hazing event, not that one or two might not have or that the event wasn't hazing as we now define it, but the likelihood is that this originated with someone who has much bigger issues with the program than the events of this incident. The choice to go to media instead of going through proper channels to lodge a complaint actually should tell us a lot about the people behind all of this. Clearly when you go to the media, you are more interested in making a big splash than having justice served. The only thing the media can do is try people in the court of public opinion. Think about that for a moment. We should realize that none of this was about justice and if wasn't about justice what was it about?

YOU are incorrrect and you do not have the facts.