Hazing in MSD Decatur Township ?

Mike Kugelman shot me an email this morning, calling my attention to the inclusion of Decatur Central High School in today's Indianapolis Star's centerpiece article called "When harmless fun turns into hazing". I'm glad he did, as I had not read the entire piece. I have searched for it in the online version of the Star to no avail - it is in the print version only. That is too bad, as this article is important for the entire Central Indiana community to read.


The subtitle of the article captures the thesis well; "Allegations in Carmel have people talking about the problem and possible reforms". The article goes into the now well known hazing by Carmel students on the team bus, incidents at Lawrence North, Avon, and Whiteland High Schools. This is what the authors Andy Gammill, Rob Annis and Mark Ambrogi wrote that involved students at Decatur Central High School :

One incident viewed two very different ways

A recent visit to Decatur Central High School illustrates varying degrees to which -- even on the same campus -- people regard the seriousness of the situation.

Junior John Tapp said he and his fellow wrestlers target freshmen members of the team for pranks but see it as harmless.

This season, he said, the team held down a freshman and taped him to a locker room bench, leaving him there for the duration of practice.

Older players on the team had endured similar incidents when they were younger, Tapp said.

"I think it's pretty much a ritual," he said, adding that it was taken in a spirit of camaraderie.

But classmates on other teams who heard Tapp tell that story did not think it was acceptable.

Cameron Spall, also a Decatur Central junior, said that would go against the culture of the football team, of which he is a member.

The couching staff, he said, has explained that teammates must respect one another rather than use bullying or hazing to create a culture of intimidation and exclusion. That kind of behavior actually hurts a team's unity, the coaches said.

"Not on the football team," Spall said. "Our coach wants us to be a good person. We don't need this to be a good team."

Gary Pellico, a central office administrator and district spokesman, said the football team's philosophy exemplifies what Decatur Township Schools stands for.

The incident Tapp described would not be appropriate, Pellico said. After hearing Tapp describe that incident, Pellico asked the athletic director to examined possible hazing on the wrestling team and alerted the superintendent to the situation.

"That is certainly not our expectation of what a team sport includes, or any activity," Pellico said. "That tradition must stop."

Pellico is absolutely correct - that tradition must stop. But, I do have to wonder, where were the adults during all of this?