Have you ever had to sleep outside with just a blanket on a cold winter night? It is one of several activities that applicants must complete to be initiated and accepted into a fraternity or sorority. Hazing has become a huge problem in the United States and is getting worse. Hazing is usually linked to excessive drinking or drinking games, leading to increased harm done. However, it appears to be more common in men than women. These incidents of drinking and other physical abuse led to the injuries and deaths of pledges. Hazing is also known to cause psychological damage and pain as well as physical damage to pledges and students, due to the pledge master's control of their actions. The danger of hazing has only increased with the binge drinking and binge drinking that occurs today. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayHazing is defined as "any activity expected of a person joining or participating in a group that humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers them, regardless of the person's intention." the person to participate” (“Hazing Research and Prevention”). Usually, hazing begins in high school, in groups such as sports teams and other organizations, and continues through college, on sports teams and primarily in Greek life. Today, more than half of students have experienced hazing (“Hazing Research and Prevention”). This is a shocking number of students who are treated unfairly and are routinely severely damaged, even killed, by these events. These initiation rituals have been practiced for many years in Greek life and organizations. These actions are considered ceremonial and mundane by current members of the fraternity, even though Greek national organizations banned this type of behavior many years ago (Drout 535). Fraternities also practice hazing to reduce the ability of members to join without paying their dues to the group or without thinking that they have privileges and rights as newcomers (Cimino 243). Older and current members also derive pleasure and entertainment from hazing pledges. Students join fraternities or sororities to join a social circle, usually during the 2nd semester of their freshman year. They may need to find or form a bond and may not have been completely sociable in high school. They believe that they will win over these so-called brothers or sisters and form a special friendship with them. These students desire the feeling of belonging that these Greek fraternities and sororities provide. Therefore, most of these pledges are weak and will do whatever they are told, which is why they are the perfect subjects to perform these acts for the pledge masters. They perform these acts because they feel it will be worth it to have a family and a close group of friends that they can call their own (Keating 104). However, are these benefits really worth all the pain and suffering they go through during the initiation process? Hazing is linked to risky activities and behaviors that are usually linked to things such as alcohol, drugs, embarrassment, and abuse. I myself considered joining a fraternity when I arrived at the University of Hartford, but after hearing many rumors and reading horrible news articles about thehazing, I decided it was in my best interest to stay away from Greek life. I figured joining a fraternity shouldn't be a long process of hazing and embarrassment, but rather a time to meet a new group of guys, form a special bond of friendship with them, and feel like you belong to a new group. The majority of hazing activities begin or completely involve alcohol, as well as its rapid and excessive consumption. Evidence shows that 90 percent of hazing deaths are linked to excessive alcohol consumption (Hollmann 15). A contributing factor is the fact that drinking has been shown this way in movies and TV shows, so people think it's acceptable. These types of acts can lead to incidents such as drunk driving, physical harm or fights, or even rape. Off-campus fraternity houses are the ones that are known for drinking the most and try to beat other houses to become the most popular houses. They compete to have a better reputation and be more famous on campus. Fraternities at large public schools experience the worst hazing practices because they have large off-campus houses where events can go unnoticed. Some of these schools include the University of Florida and Penn State. These students are twice as likely as campus fraternities to have drinking and other problems (Hollmann 15). This is due to the lack of restrictions and oversight from the university. An interesting topic is whether sororities or fraternities drink more and participate in more hazing rituals in their initiation process. Fraternity brothers seem to care more about what other students think of their group and their reputation, which is probably why they drink more to try to impress others. They then lead their pledges to become involved in risky and heavy drinking. However, most girls are not inclined to drink and usually only drink in the presence of men at events such as social activities. Some sororities at some colleges also do not have pledges to go through the hazing process and therefore have a hazing-free initiation, which is why there are more women willing to join them (Drout 537). Sororities don't usually involve drinking; however, when participating in hazing, they have less harsh activities for pledges. Change needs to happen in this country to stop these hazing activities and the harm caused to other students. There are organizations and clubs in the United States that attempt to prevent hazing and conduct research to expose the dangers of hazing to the public, but there are not enough of them. Sororities, on the other hand, were rated friendlier than fraternities, notably much higher than those in the high alcoholic category. (Drut 537). This type of behavior also leads to lower grades in school, as young people stay up late, miss morning classes, and are unprepared for exams due to excessive alcohol consumption. Hazing not only has physical effects, but also has many psychological aspects. The pledge master gets into the heads of the pledges and makes them obey and do any instructions or activities given. This type of mental abuse really affects some of the young people and makes them unable to concentrate and function normally at school or with their friends. Cognition and motivation theories of hazing have..