FAMU aftermath: DeKalb suspends all high school marching band activities

Possible? Oh brother. Nothing like an overreaction. Yet another storm in a teacup.

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I’m glad the truth is finally about to come out. Finally. This has been going on for years and it’s worse than people realize. This is not a knee-jerk reaction. Bad stuff is going on in these schools and people are talking to the officials about it. Dekalb is just as bad as APS if not worse.

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FAMU has over 13,000 students. The band has 400 students tops. Maybe 20-30 % of the band participated in hazing as highlighted in the young lady’s case it occurred OFF CAMPUS. This is a knee jerk reaction caused by the actions of not even 1% of a great university’s population.

At this point it has become sensational journalism. Although the police report says hazing has been involved in the death of Mr. Champion it also stated that no visible signs of foul play, meaning there is probably other factors the public has not even been made away of.

Hazing is 100 percent wrong but it also takes both parties to agree to participate.

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I don’t know how you can even call bands at some of these schools “marching bands” they (some) look like auditions for pimps and hoe’s. The way some of the color guard girls dance and act is discusting,

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I was in the band in high school and enjoyed it very much.

However, in light of these incidents, and also in light of the cost in dollars to education, I feel that all non-core classes should be cut out of high schools.

We need to return to the basics and focus on them to ensure their success first. We need to excel in math, science, English, and history. This needs to happen BEFORE we worry about band, choir, foreign language, football, basketball, home economics, and so on.

Sorry if this offends anyone. It is just the way that I feel.

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There’s an additional detail that should have been noted above. FAMU bandmembers Robert Champion (who died as a result of hazing), Bria Hunter (whose thigh was broken in hazing), and two of the three men who hazed Ms. Hunter, were all members of the band subgroup Red Dawg Order of Georgia–and all four came from SW DeKalb HS. Ms. Hunter said that she was beaten because she couldn’t remember facts about the Red Dawg Order. This all suggests that maybe there has been hazing going on in the HS band as well.

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This is the problem with our community. It is NOT the media’s fault that FAMU is messy and now folks are getting caught up. Be mad at the school and the people who helped keep this going, not the papers. Black schools are known for covering up hazing and turning a blind eye to it … Don’t be pissed because they are being put on blast.

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@ ME – I suggest you do some research before spewing misinformed, slanderous information about FAMU. All of these investigations of FAMU are political motivated. They people in charge of the investigations could care less about FAMU. Did you hear about the FSU female student that was shot and killed just this year in a greek house on campus? Two other people were shot, but survived. Did you hear about the young lady that was raped in FSU’s library last year? What about FSU’s academic fraud? None of these incidents received the media attention or investigations that FAMU is receiving. For your information, FSU is a “white school”. Stop making yourself look like a fool.

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It’s unfair to punish all the schools in the county because of what is going in some marching band programs. This stuff starts within high school bands but nobody wants to admit it, so now it coming to light.

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Darattler … That’s all fine dear and I am well aware that FSU is a white school. So what? We know that we cannot do what white schools do. And I know very well what I am speaking of where black schools and hazing are concerned from personal and professional experience. Again, don’t be mad at the messengers be mad at those who screwed up. This is an issue FAMU created for itself, period.

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@Rolltide … your comment was so STUPID and UNNECESSARY! Just because the Crimson Tide’s band can’t inspire the fans don’t hate on High Schoolers!

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As for DeKalb County suspending Marching Band activities …. I feel it’s overreacting; you can be assured if those types of activities were happening within the majority of the schools the administration would have heard from the parental group long ago.

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@ Whatevs – You obviously didn’t get my point. I could care less about FSU or any the rest of the rogue colleges. I’m questioning the magnitude of the investigations at FAMU versus the almost non-existent investigations of other Florida colleges who have committed much worse crimes and are corrupt to the core. I don’t need your permission to tell me when I can discuss FSU or any other college. Lastly, I don’t care what color you are and I’m definitely not your “brutha or sista”.

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REPOST … TO MANY ERRORS!

@HS Public Teacher … if you are indeed a ‘Teacher’ you should know that studies have borne out that students who participates in any of the Arts programs tend to be better students with higher GPAs. You must a teacher of one of the ‘Core’ subjects and are afraid of losing your job; your comment is just crazy!

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@darattler, much worse than MURDER?! You can’t be serious?! Laughable! And it’s obvious you do care about FSU since it was the core of your argument. I’m done with you…

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@ Whatevs – I believe the victims are the good musicians at FAMU who never particiapated in hazing, but are being crucified because of bad decisions made by Bria Hunter and others.

If a woman dressed in a short dress enters a dark alley, KNOWING BEFOREHAND that several rapist are hanging out there, then she’s the fool for VOLUNTEERING to walk in that dark alley in the first place. It’s called CHOICES. You can choose to do right or you can choose to do wrong.

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@HS Public Teacher…Every research article about “the arts” supports the positive affect art education have on students. Both of children played in Clayton Co. band program many years ago. The had great supportive directors. Band students recieved respect in competitions where they did did well. I do believe money spent on music and art is money well spent.

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MLK Band Mom….Your MLK band is at best :”average”. You sure got defensive. I am not hating on high schoolers at all, just the way they allow the girls to dress and move about on the field is questionable. ROLL TIDE

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MLK has a GREAT band and a GREAT band director.

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@ Burroghston Broch – When the people of Florida decide that they need to support only one college in Tallahassee, my guess is that they will support the “least corrupt” one? Wonder which one might survive? I have a pretty good idea.

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@darattler. As a fellow rattler I know that emotions are high. However the response that you and unfortunately many of my fellow alums to these recent incidents are why the reputation of what should be a great institution seems to be perpetually tarnished. I don’t know when you attended but when I was there in the late 90s, everyone on campus knew about the hazing in the band, the corruption in the administrative office, and the efforts to cover up any piece of dirt about FAMU by blaming anyone and everyone but ourselves. Sure other schools have issues, but to suggest that no one ever reports about the issues at FSU is ridicoulous and false. Plus as a rattler who cares. All I know is we have a dead young man, a severely injured young woman, more corruption and coverups and putting my head in the sand is not going to fix the problem and begin repairing my alma mater.

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When and why did hazing become so violent. Hazing used to consist of such things being required to wear a beanie to class for week. Who would and why in God’s name would anyone want to “beat” someone else, especially for something as meaningless and irrelevant as joining a band club? Moreover, why would anyone ever want to associate with, much less be identified with a group of people who could do such things to other people. I just cannot imagine the mindset or thought processes of people who would or could do such things to other people.

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As someone who had to go through 4 anti-hazing workshops (2005 – 2009) I’m still confused as why anyone at FAMU would knowingly break the law. Florida law doesn’t discriminate. Anyone who is involved in hazing is charged. We were told on several instances that if you are a willing participant in hazing you’re to be charged. That doesn’t always hold true.

Reading about the Bria Hunter case I recognize that no one should be put through that kind of an ordeal, however willingly participating for whatever the reasons are violate Florida law. Injuries or no injuries if you’re found to have gone through it that makes you guilty. The idea there is if you know that being hazed is just as serious an offense as the hazing you won’t do it.

The bigger question is, why not just say no? Don’t go to the secret sessions. Tell administrators about what’s going on.

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Coming from someone who pledged and participated in a band at an HBC, I fully understand who is in position to correct this problem. Unfortunately, some of our youth will allow themselves to be subject to ridicule and physical harm just to be a part of something. That’s a culture and youth (maturity) issue. But, it’s the responsibility of the university (adults) to provide a safe environment for students. It will be up to the trustees to address this problem and rectify it.

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And HIGH SCHOOL PUBLIC TEACHER – shame on you! Music programs produce and support some of the highest achieving HS students. Read up and enlighten yourself!

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Again, I raise the question: Why has no one else expressed concern about or commented on the type of people who could do this to others? Am I missing something here? Is it some sort of “sacred cow” to question what it is that has given rise to a culture that has seemingly embraced the physical beating of others? Why? To quote Robert Burns: “Man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn.”

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@Roll Tide…just wondering what qualifies you to critique the band program at MLK or any other school. MLK has a established a great band program since the school
opened. Jealous much?
I do think the suspension of all band programs in Dekalb is an over reaction. Do an investigation if it is necessary, root out the wrong doers but leave the bands alone.

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@UnderstandingAtlanta, part of the problem is that the band directors from the top down also come out of the culture. You need to change the mindset and expel people when these incidents happen. If FAMU had a policy of expulsion, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. Since many kids in the band get scholarships, mommy/daddy won’t be happy if you come home and they now need to find the money.

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Southwest Dekalb Players play dirty in several sports as well. Two years ago our best friends son was delibertly elbowed in the left temple when he was defenseless comming down from taking a goal shot in a soccer game against them. Marist was winning something like 9-2. The kid and SW Dekalb was pissed that Marist was ahead. So this kid just violently assaulted our friends son. He suffered a fractured skull. He was lucky to live. His mother rushed him to Piedmont, where they took him into the ICU, he ended up having to have a plate put into his skull. Now he can never play any contact sports again.

Marist was taping this game. The Father pointed out to the Marist Coach how this was no accident. But when the Marist Coach went to talk to the SW Dekalb coach he met resistance.

Their is alot of Dirty violent behavior at SW Dekalb. All sanctioned by the coaches, etc.. We almost lost a dear one because of these thugs. I would hold my child out of a game against them.

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Get rid of the new super?? Are you an employee of Dekalb. She may not have been all over the news bragging and boasting about what she has been doing, but she has made some changes & improvements. I can respect a superintendent that is willing to meet with teachers on EVERY grade level ACROSS the COUNTY and listen to their concerns. I do agree with the Cunningham comment though. He def needs to go!!

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@HS Public Teacher>>>It is this type of thinking that causes some children to be cast out. Not all children are programed to love reading, writing and math. Some children are gifted in other areas and school is suppose to be an area of development. I do not believe in hazing at all, but this needs to be linked to education. There are some cultures that have “rights of passage” for certain age groups to show they have reached a level of maturity to be classified as a young man or woman. This was the institution of what is now known as “hazing”, taking an oath, battling on an instrument with the best person on the line to see how you measure up, these were once used when people joined an organization, but because we have allowed integrity to be made obsolete, you don’t see a healthy system of joining an organization. Hazing is a form or bullying, and bullies need to be dealt with. But don’t take away, for the young people who truly have a love and gift for an instrument, simply on the basis of “what might be”.

What was found that prompted and entire halt of a program for an entire County? We as parents of these students deserve an explanation as well as the students themselves.

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I had 3 kids in band, and I understand that it is a wonderful activity. At least, until it gets hijacked by thugs!

I don’t understand how we can be raising young folks who don’t have more pride in themselves, more self-confidence, to REFUSE to be a part of such rediculous ways of behaving! You want to show you are tough? REFUSE to be treated in such a way!

There are things you want terribly badly, but if they require giving yourself away, at what point will you say, “H3ll, no!”? THESE are the best and brightest? Really? How sad!

If there is evidence that any program in Dekalb or elsewhere has been a part of this, close THEM, but leave the respectable programs alone! You should not be killing the rats with a nuclear bomb.

And why was the band director at FAMU reinstated? If the band is suspended, there is no need for a director. Now, if he is a tenured music professor, you need to parse out how much his culpability affects his professorial duties. I would think it would totally negate his ability to profess and lead with integrity.

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The bands were suspended because a student who graduated in 06 from SWD and currently attended FAMU was killed. But the thing is…NONE OF THIS HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH DEKALB COUNTY SCHOOLS! He was like 26 years old and he graduated in like 2006. Dekalb bands are being unfairly punished, they literally didnt do anything wrong.

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what a profoundly stupid over reaction. but what else can one expect from DCPS?

if you have rogue elements in a school, remove THEM. you don’t nuke the entire school without a long established record of abuse.

course you also have to toss out the enablers (ie, parents, boosters, ect) who allow this crap to go on.

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@ public HS teacher.

if you are, then you should know that band kids are responsible for their entire costs. only thing the school pays are the teacher’s salaries.

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@bootnet farnsworth. They are probally mentioning his age because he is to old to be affiliated with what high school bands are doing. What does FAMU problems have to do with Dekalb county

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im a highschool student in a marching band, and nothing has ever happened. im also on xc and swimming and i have a friend in cheerleading, and we have never heard anything about hazing, nor have we meet any victims. just becuase some people are stupid dosent mean we all have to be punished. this isnt fair.

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It says this was made by the SW DeKalb Drum Majors? Where we’re their mothers when they made this video? Didn’t anyone teach them to respect women?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQTuYo6HmiQ

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From DeKalb County School Watch:

Here’s the e-mail band directors received today:

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INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM
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To: High School Principals & High School Band Directors
From: Ms. Kendra March, Deputy Superintendent, School Leadership and Operational Support
Through: Dr. Cheryl L. H. Atkinson, Superintendent
Subject: Marching Band
Date: December 7, 2011

Please read the important information below from Ms. March and forward this information on to your Band Directors.

Effective immediately! ALL Marching Band activities must cease and desist, pending further investigation regarding possible inappropriate activity involving Band Directors, Advisors, Volunteers and Band students. 

If there is an after school band performance or practice scheduled within the next 30 days, you must receive approval from Ms. Kendra March, Deputy Superintendent in order to proceed. This does not apply to Band classes during the instructional day.

There will be a mandatory meeting for ALL High School Band Directors and High School Principals following the winter break.  The date and time with be forthcoming.

Kendra D. March
Deputy Superintendent, School Leadership and Operational Support

Doesn’t sound like all practices are stopped. Sounds like the bands need approval for practices until the county develops some rules that must be followed. This sounds logical to me. They must have gotten some very distressing information that made them say they need to institute some rules and regulations governing the bands in DeKalb. Dr. Atkinson is doing the right thing. I lived for band (first chair flute and a majorette) when I was in school, but this has nothing to do with music and everything to do with power and extreme bullying. Dr. Atkinson is right to develop policies against this.

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hazing happens at all levels and in different extra curricular activities i.e football, baseball etc. and Dekalb County is being proactive before they get a knock on the door from a rep from Montlick and Assoc. not mad at them about that, it’s the world we live in. God forbid something would happen to a band student and the county knew about it and did nothing about it. haven’t you all been keeping up with PennState and all the hell they are catching and will continue to catch for years to come? no question some of the best bands in high school are in dekalb county and many of their directors hail from HBCUs were there is a culture of hazing abdn members. the school board is making sure none of the “traditions” are handed down before someone gets hurt. so if you want to place blame, find a lawyer and slap ‘em. LOL

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Ridiculous. Champion was 26 years old and one of 6 drum majors for next year? Surely he knew what he was getting into. And to shut down all DeKalb County HS bands? Even schools like Dunwoody and Chamblee? Really?

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@fultonschoolparent…better to over react than not at all.
@Mr. Groovy, if they are in the Dekalb system then the rule applies to them.
People, what do you think Penn State’s exposure will be from their situation? Millions will be paid out plus figure in the millions that will be lost due to the football program not bringing in the much needed revenue. Several recruits have already de-committed. Dekalb’s exposure would be the same as FAMU/or Penn State’s. Dekalb County school system does not have the luxury of saying “it can’t happen here.”

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@MLK Band Mom and Others,

Do not confuse correlation with causation. Just because SOME brilliant people play music does not mean that playing music causes kids to be brilliant any more than playing football makes kids large and very very fast and always say , “uh… you know” in every sentence. Now if you want to say, “Playing music makes kids well rounded,” then that’s another story. But get off the kick that playing in a marching band improves learning, because well… that’s just wrong. Good students make good grades irrespective of playing football, baseball,or being in any extra-curricular activity.

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old physics teacher…you should know first hand there have been many studies showing a correlation between music students and their ability to excel in math. just google if you don’t recall. It can be argued also that colleges like to enroll students that are well rounded in many different areas and not just academics. c’mon you’re not that old…
stay on topic people, this was about hazing and the Dekalb County school taking measures to stem any lawsuits that would surely come their way should a band student become injured either on or off campus.

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Fun fact: I probably would have dropped out of HS if it were not for being in the Marching Band. Today, I have a college degree in Computer Science and have been working in the field I love for 12 years.

So, killing all “non-core” activities in school would have actually done the opposite in my case in terms of “teaching the subjects our kids need to succeed in life.” The only reason I stuck around to learn the “core” subjects was because of looking forward to being in band.

It made me a more well-rounded person in my HS years, and the college band experience actually made me a better person socially. I would be a totally different person, and most likely worse off, if Public HS Teacher got her wish around the time I was in HS.

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I wonder if the superintendent would have suspended all football activities in DeKalb had some players from DeKalb signed with Alabama and got into some very bad trouble later while playing football for Bama. Hmm. Now I love college football and also a good marching band. SWD and other DeKalb high schools have great marching bands. I think that this action was reaction and does not serve the children well.

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Hw did these SWD students get away with using the DCSS band uniforms in this disgusting video? What does this say about Southwest DeKalb and what does it say about DCSS? What disrespect for women. Look at the video and you’ll see why DCSS needs some rules and regulations.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQTuYo6HmiQ

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I remember the band director used to come around the elementary school and find out who the gifted students were. I once asked him why and he said they make the best band members so he actively recruited them. So perhaps it’s the other way around. Gifted students make good musicians rather than music making you gifted.

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It is well known that many of the top band directors/administrators are products of FAMU and similar band programs. Maybe the County has a question about whether those leaders are letting hazing activities go on in their high school programs. The news is reporting that the County is investigating possible hazing incidents that occured over the summer. While it may seem heavy-handed, I would prefer for DCSS to take this action now instead of reacting after a child is injured.

I think that it’s sad that these kids are willing to subject themselves to physical violence in order to belong. I thought pledging was supposed to involve running errands, learning/reciting history, being blindfolded, etc. What does being beaten have to do with brotherhood or sisterhood?! Why don’t these children have a greater self-worth?

I was in the DCSS when Dr. Freeman was Superintendent and I just don’t remember it being as violent or materialistic/ghetto-fabulous. Failing AYP (or whatever the metric was back then) was unheard of. Maybe I was sheltered.

P.S. I don’t know why some people think Mr. Champion’s age is relevant, but it is my understanding that he took semesters off to work and earn money to help pay for school.

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hazing??? isn’t that the Atlanta Way? Buckhead vs Midtown? Phipps vs. Lenox? Red bottom vs. Pay less? Atlanta zip-codes? ipad? phone? #twitter followers? #facebook fans?

Most parents subconsciously modeled hazing to their children. What do they expect? The bully / hazing starts at home. It’s called honesty, integrity, ethics and concern for others. The lack of it in our current society is reflecting the results in our children.

What do you …the parents… expect?
The mirror does not lie.

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Please help me understand why the media is acting as if HAZING didn’t exist before a month ago and that it only exists in “drum-line style” marching bands? And now Dekalb County is running scared and shutting down all band activities. I know sense ain’t common, but come on, let’s try to use some common sense. You can investigate A reported incident from the summer without going overboard. And let us all remember hazing isn’t just hitting and paddling, forcing people to drink excessively and do stupid dangerous stunts is also hazing. This is seen mostly in your two-word college organizations. Yikes, I’ll put that CARD back in my pocket.

I also hear some HATE in the comments about SWD, and I have not ties to SWD. There are skeletons of some type in all closets, check your own. It’s amazing how one focused issue brings out all other political issues of the entire school system, while who suffers… The Students

Just shut down all extracurricular activities, you bunch of Scrooges, just looking to say I told you so, because you just hate to see others doing anything well.

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@ Lita – I agree that the media is fueling much of this. I also think hazing will continue long after the reporters move on to the next story. However, DCSS would be foolish
to ignore its ties to FAMU.

High school band members will often go to FAMU, Southern or any HBCU with a decent band, graduate from college and then RETURN to their old high school to work with the band unofficially and sometimes officially get hired as instructors. DCSS is supposed to ignore that cycle and assume that those former students don’t bring any of their hazing methods with them? The ostrich approach doesn’t work well in negligence cases and a plaintiff’s lawyer would have a field day.

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Thank you Lita! I am proud of SWD, the band director and all the students; especially my own. SWD is not just about marching band. Their concert and wind symphony rocks too! The entire program is outstanding! I wish the media could have been at the winter concert last week.

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The girl suing FAMU doesn’t deserve one cent and should apologize for wasting the court’s and the school’s time with her case. She VOLUNTEERED to take part in that activity and could have stopped it at any point by saying no and leaving. That would have been the end of it. I’ll check the Florida law but I know in Alabama the law states:

(b) No person shall engage in what is commonly known and recognized as hazing, or encourage, aid, or assist any other person thus offending.

(c) No person shall knowingly permit, encourage, aid, or assist any person in committing the offense of hazing, or willfully acquiesce in the commission of such offense, or fail to report promptly his knowledge or any reasonable information within his knowledge of the presence and practice of hazing in this state to the chief executive officer of the appropriate school, college, university, or other educational institution in this state. Any act of omission or commission shall be deemed hazing under the provisions of this section.

In other words the hazer and hazee are both guilty of committing hazing in Alabama. It seems in Florida the only guilty party is the one striking, not the one allowing others to strike them. Ridiculous.

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What amazes me is the local hazing of high school freshman where they are “kidnapped,” taken to a field where even blood is poured over them among other things. The parents even give their permission for this to be done to their children. It is unbelievable!

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The ban is only for 30 days most of which are Winter Break and there is an exception for some activities spelled out and band directors can ask for other exceptions.

I think the problem here is Don Roberts, head of Instructional Music for the school system and his connection to FAMU and SWD and other school based employees who are band directors and FAMU alumni.

I suspect that Dr. Atkinson was told something, more than one vague incident, that has given her pause. Otherwise, this makes no sense given how little is going on in most marching band programs this time of year.

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Ineffably sad that ADULTS have allowed things to reach this point. Just who is in charge of these bands? Well, suspend THEM!

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Typical bureaucrat reaction…something “might” have happened so shut down the program for everyone. My daughter’s school has had 3 bomb threats in 3 years…by Dekalb’s logic, all schools should be closed just in case some one might really be planning something.

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I agree with you Just A Teacher, also, what happens to the well-rounded child if all those extra activities like music, art or home economics are cut or not viewed as a priority? We’ll have a whole bunch of aloof, book smart adults with no common sense! That’s tragic!

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that’s muffin jam,

sorry, I hit tab and it posted accidentally.

To continue: Correlation does not now, or ever, imply causation. Just because you’re good in one field, doesn’t mean that the same ability CAUSES, or HELPS, activity in another field. The correlation could be easier made between SES and math and music, but one just doesn’t CAUSE the other. I have seen many kids who were good in math, science, literature,history, economics, sports, AND music. I’ve also seen kids good in only one of those fields that stunk in the others. Hypothesizing about the loss of marching band EXTRACURRICULAR activities CAUSING a drop in EDUCATION is … just wrong. If you’re implying that there is a cause and effect, they could get as much “effect” (cough, cough) by setting in a chair in their music room (or at home) simply playing their music. MARCHING band does not improve grades in academic areas any more than improving academic scores improving marching band.

Now, if you want to talk about the loss of physical activity, if you want to talk about the loss of socialization skills, if you want to talk about the POSSIBILITY of over reaction of administrators – fine, but don’t try to put a guilt trip on the administration using that poor of an argument.

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Did DCSS over-react? Maybe, but after a time to think about this, I believe it to be a good move. It’s better to err on the side of caution. I’m sure that there is some information that we are not privy to that led to this decision. It’s only for a short period of time and marching band season is over, so I’m not sure how much this, if any, will affect the band programs at the schools.

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Special performance cases? This is a perfect example of assinine irrational thought which perpetuates ignorance and a lack of “RESPECT” for authorities.

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Does this sound plausible:

That they found activity that needs to be stopped at SELECTED schools, but wanting to be POLITICALLY CORRECT they stopped activity at ALL schools so that no one would accuse them of bias and prejudice? So this action buys TIME so they can figure out what to do?

Don’t know if that’s what happened, but wouldn’t be surprised in the least.

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The reason they halted band activity is to give them time to assess the situation, in addition, you have several band leaders, etc. across the county who have direct ties to both SWD and FAMU…..
I would not be surprised if you see other counties follow suit across the state and even in other states…
My problem is this is TOO LITTLE….TOO LATE..a man has already lost his life…yes take steps to correct it now, but it has been known for DECADES and to eliminate it now will be a miracle. You may reduce but elimination is not possible…to many underground organization that the schools allow to exist oncampus both colleges and Highschool….
OHHH and lets not forget about the middle schools….

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I wonder how Reverend King would feel today knowing that he is more important than Jesus. We can’t have a marching band miss marching on HIS birthday, but forget about in celebration of Jesus’s birthday.

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@OH WOW….you did not SEE ANY HAZING going on..pretty naive thinking to think it stopped after a MOVIE was produced…

Does the RED DOG Organization have a charter, by laws…if not …they are not a FRATERNITY or SORORITY….this band organization is being linked to a FRATERNITY….it is merely a group of individuals….

Been to college, pledged…I know the difference between a group and a FRAT….

HIGH SCHOOLS have been and still haze as part of whatever the organization is….you just don’t see it or hear about it until someone gets hurt…
Just because it is not on campus does not mean it does not happen…

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@carlosgsv – Some have said that Mr. Chapman’s beating was punishment for dropping his baton during a performance. It was almost certainly NOT hazing, since he had been a band member for years.

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If the non-hazing rules are to be put into effect then shouldnt the school lunch program be suspended, permanently?

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To the comment about the athletic program, pull off those shoulder pads off and stick an instrument in the football, basketball, baseball players mouth instead. Oh heaven forbid, they might have to concentrate and learn!! Learning how to play an instrument for hours and play it right takes much concentration and discipline. Try playing the trumpet for hours at a time without running around. Then you will see what true dedication is all about!!!! Plus once the football season is over the athlete gets a brake. Not so for the band kid!!! ALL YEAR AROUND! Especially for the ones that are not only in marching band but also in concert, orchestra pit for the play, jazz band, pep band. Then also try out for Jan Fest, GISA, ALL STATE etc. While keeping up with other extra curr, grades and community service.

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“Dr” Atkinson. LMAO!! Dr. Thats a good one.

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@Frankie, I know that many parents out there know this stuff is going on in their bands but won’t step forward to say anything. Unfortunately, the message they are sending to their kids is that it’s necessary to go through this stuff to be “in” the group. I thought you were in because you made the program in the first place. The schools schools that feed the HBCU colleges do need to be looked at because these kids didn’t just up and decide to join these so-called organization when they got to college. They are being groomed from middle school, when they first join these high school marching bands. If parents aren’t aware of what goes on in the band room and out on the field, that’s a shame. Kids can be mean, and they are meaner to those they know they can torment and get away with it. Code of silence all around. Alumni are an even bigger problem in many cases because they bring this nonsense into the programs and promote it.

So many of these kids live for marching band, and it’s the high point in their lives when they get into one of these marching bands. They like being in symphonic band, but they live for marching band. The Sorors and Frats don’t want to touch this third rail.

As to the The Sorors and Frats, they don’t want to touch this third rail.

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I like the fact that Dr. Atkinson was not afraid to take a tough and, in some places, an unpopular stance. Maybe there is hope yet.

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@Frankie – are you comparing homicide to being forced to do push ups in the army? How can anyone think these events should be anything other than criminal acts?

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@miss management : If R.D.O is better defined as a gang then thats what you should call all of these faternities and sorrorities. They All haze. No matter if they are majority Black, white, or hispanic THEY ARE ALL THE SAME. They all do the same things.

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@MissManagement, in their minds this is a fraternal order because the young woman was punished for not reciting some guideline of theirs. If you do some research on hazing at some HBCU’s you’ll see that one young man was beaten so badly he was in a coma. Wasn’t the Red Dogs the tough APD drug unit.

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WOW!! From all this praise one would think the good “Doctor” has aleady made stellar changes to Dekalb. But those “in the know” understand this is the ole “bait and switch” routine. The ole “rose colored” glasses.

Nothing more here than a marketing scam. The good “Doctor” has created the need and now she intends to fill it. She is a great used car salesperson. Nothing more…nothing less.

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I think Dekalb County made a wise move. If you think hazing does not go in in our high school bands you need to wake up. Its not all physical abuse, but its mental as well. I have spoken to the band director at my child’s school several times becuase my child was being metally abused. This is not what band is about. Stop bashing Dekalb County BOA and sit your children down and if they open up to you there may be some stories that will shock you. Why do you think Alumni come back to homecoming games. It’s not all about seeing your former classmates. All I am saying is do not be blind to the fact that hazing does occur in high school and it transferes to the college level.#just my opinion

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I think Dekalb County made a wise move. If you think hazing does not go on in our high school bands you need to wake up. Its not all physical abuse, but its mental as well. I have spoken to the band director at my child’s school several times becuase my child was being metally abused. This is not what band is about. Stop bashing Dekalb County BOE and sit your child(ren) down and if they open up to you there may be stories that will shock you. Why do you think Alumni come back to homecoming games. It’s not all about seeing your former classmates. All I am saying is do not be blind to the fact that hazing does occur in our high schools.#just my opinion

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@OHWOW…..again…RDO or whatever you want to call them are not a FRATERNITY…and i agree if a fraternity is all about hazing in order to call members there own then yes they are no better than a gang, just like RDO.
probelm is OHWOW…you said RDO is “LIKE” a FRATERNITY…so they don’t have a orgaizational head that will be charged for this killing, just a bunch of individual.
If the QUE DOGs (OMEGA PSI PHI) were to do this and they have…they would face jail time all the way up the chain —national president…
Ask the KAPPA ALPHA PSI of FAMU who just went thru this very same issue afew years ago with akid from Decatur…and I think his dad was also a KAPPA…those who maimed that kid faced jail time…

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Hazing is what leads to these issues of injury and death. check the internet for how many fraternities get kicked off campus for this reason…again not say it is right, but you know what may happen when you join. you make the decision to stay and take it.
I have taken steps with my own Fraternity to make sure that they understand the consequences for their action if someone comes up hurt or worse…dead.

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Criminal acts people. Not hazing. Happens all around the country and people get put in JAIL.

Hazing scandal leads to sexual assault charges in Montana
http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog/prep_rally/post/Hazing-scandal-leads-to-sexual-assault-charges-i?urn=highschool-wp9938
As reported by KRTV.com, the Great Falls Tribune and other outlets in the Great Falls, Mont., area, the 2011 Great Falls (Mont.) High football team was rocked with a hazing scandal that revolved around an activity called “power gobbling,” in which upper class members of the football team picked up freshmen victims in the shower by their crotch. In the process of that hazing activity, Great Falls senior Alex Mauricio Botina-Roehm allegedly stuck his thumb up a freshman’s rectum.

That act led to a felony charge of sexual intercourse without consent and two felony charges of sexual assault against Roehm, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. In the meantime, the teen has been expelled from Great Falls public schools for taking part in the hazing ritual.

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PapaJ – You’ve hit on a topic I thought would be ignored and that is the innocent hazing that is considered permissible by adults in our society. I submit that these incidents in lower level schools give students a distorted view about what is acceptable to do to others and what is acceptable treatment by others. I see this all the time and think it is coaches, teachers and parents who are the root of hazing. Anytime someone allows or encourages a child to “lord it over” another child — whether because they are less athletic, new to a group, shorter, etc — we are teaching children it’s ok to be mean and it’s acceptable to be picked upon. Those children grow up and enter college with a misunderstanding of how they should treat others and how they should be treated.

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My comments are not directed at the administrations’s response which I feel are justified – just your minimization of the power of music….

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Let me simplify it OH WOW: When bad behavior (you can call it hazing if you want) crosses the line and does real harm to someone it becomes a crime.

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@MissManagment – Your right but to punish high school kids who had absolultley nothing to do with it is not right

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I agree. For example, Dunwoody’s band should not be punished due to the bad behavior of some former SouthWest DeKalb band members. I have to wonder, is SW one of the bands scheduled to play in the MLK parade? Particularly unfair if in the end they get to perform when others don’t simply because it is a “chosen” event.

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I lived for band – first chair flute – so I OWNED the solos, went to state clinics, and in marching season was a majorette. We were a small, lower income school, but our band along with our basketball team was the pride of our school and community. We won competitions and went on trips to march in parades. My community and all of the band members were involved in the fundraising so we could have uniforms, compete, and go on those trips to represent our school.

Everyone knew our success was due to a dynamic and exceptionally demanding band director. It was a bit like joining the army. It was his way or the highway. My behavior may have been lacking in the classroom, but in the band room, it was perfect. So I understand the importance and effect being a committed member of the band has on the self discipline of students. The director of our band was the absolute ruler in the band room, in concerts and when we marched in the streets and on the field. He was the “discipline in the band”, not us. He would never have expected band members to discipline each other. That would have taken away from his authority.

We competed furiously for “chairs” – first, second, third, and everyone else was in the rest of the section hoping to be a first, second or third chair one day. Try-outs produced students coming away crying because they lost their positions, but how well you could play that instrument was the ultimate judge, and how you could add to the entire performance is why you subjugated yourself to the rest of the group.

Band, like athletics, is not just about a social group. It is also about individual excellence and creating entertainment, involvement and performance for others who remain on the sidelines.

Excellence in music and athletics is not predicated on physical or verbal abuse from others. No one is with you when you arise at 5:00 am to run 6 miles or when you practice 4 hours in the afternoon on your musical instrument. Supporting your teammates is not about how bad you can make them feel about themselves.

I don’t know what is happening with band “hazing”, but it is not about excellence in music or performance.

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@This isn’t hazing from Good Mother : NO disrespect but you really don’t know wat you are talking about. HAZING is a nationwide epeidemic. Hazing is in EVERYTHING, From band to football to faternities and sorrorities, the NBA the NFL. EVERYTHING! And those students Robert Champion and Bria hunter were both in the wrong also. They are not these innocent “victims” as you are making them out to be. They were both adults who made a bad decision and they a unfortunatley suffering, Robert (R.I.P) sadly lost his life. But what you need to understand is both of these adults KNEW what were happening. Bria went to the hotel room so she could be initiated into this organization. She made a bad decision and every and decision follows consequences. They are both going to be charged under Florida law for putting them selves into that situation. They both willingly did it to feel “apart”. Bria said it in her interview. And another thing the organazation both bria and robert were crossing is not school affiliated. It is held off of school grounds for that purpose. Famu before all this happened has sat down with the band and done numerous workshops on anti-hazing to let the students know they have a zero tolerance for such ignorance. But at the end of the day you can set the laws in place but you cant stop anyone from breaking the law. Not only did the university do that, but when the famu band director got word of what was going on , he immediatley kicked out about 60 students right before the biggest game of the year. They took it serious. Its not the schools fault for the poor judgement of the students, ecspecially when they did all they could including kicking people out. And as far as the dekalb thing goes. You think its good that some Stephenson and SWD missed out on a 21,000 schlorship to Alabama State because of this silly suspension? Do you think its right that over 1,000 students in the dekalb music programs have to suffer because of the actions of dekalb ALUMNI? Do you think its right that Stephenson has to put aside one of the most prestigious events a band can get invited to “Bands of America” because of something they didnt even do? Do you think its right over 1,000 students may lose their high school bands over something that dosent even have to do with currents students? Maybe you dont understand the tradition and the HARD WORK these students have put into these programs. DeKalb does not have a logical reason to go as far to suspend the bands. Yea the students at Famu were from dekalb but they were being intiated into a COLLEGE organzation. It has NOTHING to do with high school, Ecspecially high schools in Georgia.

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I commend someone finally taking action in DCSS over improper rituals and routines. Some people do not understand what is occurring in schools. CAse in point, a child at the high school comes down to the middle school to assist with the new step team. Because she is older and knows what to do, the step team sponsor leaves her in the room with the new step members. As I walk down the hall way, I hear cursing, name calling, taking about people’s sorry-arse parents. It is the older high school girl getting the younger kids in line. When I chastised her, she looked as if I did something wrong.
Visiting the high school, I hear the older kids and the college students who return to “help” the band name calling, talking about pushing students and breaking them in.
How many parents realize that this exist and would confront the problem? It is systemic and starts in middle school. These kids go on to college believing these verbal, emotional, and physical tirades are how things are suppose to go.
Kudos to Dr. atkinson for attempting to correct this non-sense. She has not suspended kids practices- the band directors have to get permission, and some are not use to asking for approval and explaining their actions. The parents claiming their kids cannot get into college with this countywide suspension, if that is your reality and we know fruit does not fall far from the tree, then your kid is not college ready. LA Times visited today and spoke to students and parents who were using feeling and not rationality.

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Some of the comments on this board say somethning like “you know what you are getting into before you join.” In other words, “tough luck.”

That’s just wrong.

No kid (and 26 years old is a kid) understands death. We see it everyday when we drive — when we are young we feel invincible — bad stuff happens to other people, not us.

We adults do it when we text and drive or talk on the phone and drive — it won’t happen to us, we’re the careful ones. Those tragic deaths from people talking and texting on their cell phones never happen to us.

I admit it. I did some darn foolish things in college — as a 22 year old. I had a very small car. I drove 110 miles an hour home from college. Imagine that. 110 miles an hour without a seat belt until…..

In that same tiny car, while driving without a seat belt, at a slow speed (50 mph) some other college student who felt as indestructible as I felt, ran a red light and plowed into me.

I got out alive but spent several months in a wheel chair that I couldn’t even operate because I had broken arms and legs and it delayed my college graduation by six months. I also still have medical issues with those limbs today..

Which is to say — now I drive at a reasonable speed and I always wear my seat belt but it took a huge wake up call to make it happen. I’m a normal, rational person.

To blame the victims in these cases is to live in denial. We want to believe that the victim had it coming to them because that would mean we can protect ourselves — we would never be thqt “stupid” so nothing bad can happen to us right?

Wrong.

We adults need to protect our children. Victims are victims and nothing — not football, not money, not fame is worth a rape, a death, an injury.

I am delighted in Dr. Atkinson’s decision to investigate. More power to her.

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@say what – Your partially wrong. Stephenson and SWD both had to pull out of an event hosted by alabama state. Dekalb officials made them pull out and this event which was for schlorship money. 21,000 to be exact. So because of that SHS and SWD student wont have that band schlorship money that would also pay for the students room and board. So that persmission thing is CRAP, they really dont want anyone to do anything. And not to mention Stephenson has a HUGE event in febuary called Bands of America. Its a REALLY hard thing to get into. Stepenson is the 3rd predomintley african american band to be accepted to go since WORLD WAR 2! It is a HUGE honor, but the officials wont let them practice. This will probally not come around again. Which is highly unfair to those students. SWD has students who made the NATIONL honor band which is rare and extrmely hard chance and opportunity. But these kids cant go to any of the rehearseals or practice. Its highly unfair.

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“. They dont have any proof of any hazing in dekalb, they are only suspending the bands because swd has alot of people who go to Famu, ”

You don’t know what proof DeKalb has because you are not part of the investigation. This is your opinion. I don’t any of the particulars either so all I can go on is my opinion. My opinion is to let the administration investigate allegations of hazing in DeKalb.

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You people a child is dead another broken up wow I forgot it is not yours I , I , I ,this needs to be looked at fools for more than for two deadly reasons if your child is good as you think they are they will make it .please have a heart and some dam common sense.

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@mem – I can only have pity for your “blame the victim” attitude. Bria is a freshman in college – still someone’s child. Our children often times find themselves in situations for which they do not have the skills to retreat from. If you have children, I hope they never have to face the type of life situations that Robert and Bria faced, and also know that you, as their parent, may not have their back.

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No flash ….a young man at the age of 26 is dead…lets not act like these young adults don’t have a brain to think with..and you are right…parents have to do a better job of asking questions about what is going on in these organization (your young adult) has to be a member of…

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Dunwoody Mom, I am with you on the ridiculous assertions that these victims somehow “asked for it”. What kind of sick person beats up people for fun? Think about beating up someone you work with every day. How does that even make sense? There is obviously something emotionally and psychologically wrong with the kids who are doing the beating. Period.

As for Dr. Atkinson’s actions, I wholeheartedly support her. She has not shut down the band programs permanently, nor has a timeline been placed on the suspension. Bands are able to ask for permission to practice and perform, and there’s very little chance this suspension will last very long. In addition, the bands ARE allowed to practice during school hours, so those bands with upcoming competitions are not just sitting around twiddling their thumbs. I have to think that the connections between FAMU and some DeKalb County high school are not coincidental, and if the hazing starts in our high schools, Dr. A has a responsibility to investigate it. What would parents say if they knew the administration had evidence of hazing and didn’t do anything about it and, heaven forbid, a high school student died? As for making the suspension county-wide, who’s to say that hazing doesn’t go on at Chamblee or Druid Hills? They might as well investigate the county program since the head of the county program is also suspect.

As for this happening in all sorts of activities, I would expect that if the administration receives credible information that hazing is taking place in another activity, say, football, Dr. A would take a similar path and suspend those, too. You can’t use the excuse that “it happens everywhere” as an excuse to not do anything.

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I have a feeling that their is much more to this story then any of us will ever know!!!! Some how covering up something!

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@Dunwoody Mom, This isn’t blaming the victim, but if this were my child, she would know that I’d be down there in a second to take care of her healthcare needs, I’d be making a ruckus, AND afterwards, I ask her, “Child, what were you thinking?” “Didn’t you tell me before you came her that you wouldn’t let anyone put their hands on you?”

I am a parent, and I am also a band parent whose child got an HBCU band scholarship, and I know kids in many of the HBCU bands, so this is personal for me. I also know that there’s hazing of some sort within HBCU bands and have had discussions with my kids about it. We’ve discussed what I expect them to do if someone puts their hands on them to cause them harm. I’ve told them there’s no shame in calling home if they feel they’re in over their heads. We’ve discussed, and discussed this topic, because I know how dumb young people can be. I now how much peer pressure takes hold when they are with their peers.

I hurt for Mr. Champion’s parents because I can’t imagine my child coming home to me for Thanksgiving in a casket. His situation doesn’t even come into this particular conversation as far as I’m concerned. With blood clots in her body, Ms. Hunter came have died had those clots gone to her heart. Those young people who were arrested may never have the future their parents thought they would have. The whole idea is that you go through your “initiation”, then you get to do it to do the same thing to the next crop of students. It’s a requirement. At the end of the day, they are all victims of something they all thought they could handle.

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You write “I’d be making a ruckus, AND afterwards, I ask her, “Child, what were you thinking?” “Didn’t you tell me before you came her that you wouldn’t let anyone put their hands on you?”

The key word is afterwards….AFTERwards..

There is no afterwards for Mr. Champion. He is dead.

There is no afterwards for a rape victim. Time and medicine cannot heal those wounds.

The damage is done. The death is permanent. The rape hurts forever.

A GOOD PARENT would not let this happen because they would DEMAND that the place they send their child to get an education would be a safe place.

You have your priorities all messed up.

Your attitude is all wrong. Your method is “you’ll be in a fight so let me show you how to say no when a gang jumps on you and beats on you.

One person cannot stop a gang of thugs from putting a beat down on you. Do you really think that gang is gonna let your child pull out her cell phone and call home in the middle of a beat down?

Mercy, you are stupid.

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luckily i survived…as a young adult we thuogh we were invincible as do the young adults do today…I am not blaming anyone. But you don’t walk into a burning building thinking you won’t get burned..
I was not forced to do anything i did not want to do…if i did not want to do it or be there i would have left…quick fast and in a hurry…even if i had to fight my way out.

If I had died during the hazing i went through I aswell as those who hazed/assalted me would be responsible…not blamed but responsible.

We have to teach our young adults accountability and self worth…I though that being a part of my organization was the best thing for me at the time…I has provided me with life long friends and people I can count on for ANYTHING…
Youu can’t get that at your job…

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@the deal…i don’t take any of this personal, so your comments are just that comments…
Unless you have experienced pledging yuo will never know what it is all about even if you don’ agree…I lived i learned, I teach my children different from what i experienced.
Your generalization of being associated with bullies is laughable…

You are talking apples and oranges when you compare spousal abuse with the acts of hazing..but in both situations the person receiving the abuse can leave…I dont’t blame the abused woman, but I know she knows she has to leave..
The difference is these students already knew they were going to be hazed/assualted…
In a spousal abuse situation it is not apparent from the first time you meet your husband that they will be faced with abuse…

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Your comments are right on and I would like to add something about abused women.

People assume (incorreclty) that an abused woman can simply leave and be safe.

WHen a woman leaves her abusive husband, she enters the MOST DANGEROUS TIME because often abusive husbands/boyfriends are threatened by that action and come after their wife/girifriend.

In many instances the woman is KILLED AFTER she leaves her abuser __ JUST LIKE NICOLE BROWN SIMPSON.

She left that abusive man and he came after her and killed her.

Women also often stay in an abusive relationship because the abuser tells her that he will kill her children if she leaves him and guess what ? THEY DO KILL THEM.

So all this nonsense has the same thread of ignorance going on — blaming the victim.

Those who are stupid and ignorant blame the victim.

We who are evolved who no longer have tails and drag our knuckles on the ground know better than to blame the victim.

We need to send our children to a school that is SAFE. It terrifies me to think my children will be going off to college where I have little influence on them. To willingly send a kid or knowingly send a kid to an abusive, school is unimaginable.

Please evolve already, mem and others like you. You are the ones who give parents a bad name.

.

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WOW some of your comments are UNBELIEVABLE. What some of you are saying is that Bria and Champion played No role in this. Excuse my language but are you all really that dumb!?!?!? Bria and Champion played VITAL roles in it by ALLOWING it to go on. And you cant compare a woman in a abusive relationship with this, because these kids Allowed it to happen to be “cool”. Its not much more than that. They made stupid decision. BUt to say the university isn’t safe is ABSURD! This happened OFF CAMPUS. The university did worships and seminars on anti hazing. You can set laws but NOTHING can stop someone from breaking them. And because bria and Champion both WILLINGLY played along they are just as much to blame. They broke the law for crying out loud! Stop making excuses for grown adults! RDO let them know what was going to happen before hand but they still showed up. The people who did the hazing are wrong so are the people who willingly participated. When police do drug bust they dont just arrest the drug dealer but they also arrest the drug addict. Someone died if faternity hazing at Cal State in 2009, so i guess that means the whole Cal State is un safe? Hazing is always done off campus. It has nothing to do with the school. WAKE UP people, and the only reason the young lady bria came forward was because of the injury. She waited a month before coming forward. Florida Law says you should report ASAP. People Im not condoning hazing but for ANYONE to sit up here and try to act like Bria and Champion were innocent little sheepgoat is ABSURD! They both WIllingly did it. They were not jumped or hit without permission. People will only go as far as you allow them.

AND NO I AM NOT AFFILATED WITH SWD NOR STEPHENSON BAND BOOSTER. I DID GRADUATE FROM A DEKALB COUNTY SCHOOL BUT IT WAS LAKESIDE

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This is unfortunately happening at many different school systems, in all different schools both majority white and majority black, rich and poor. It is all set up by the direction of the leadership of the school. My child was at a low SES school in Cobb County for 2 years of high school. We had no problems with cheerleading. Even though she was only one of three white cheerleaders on the team. We had reasonable practice times. The coaches where great, nice and positive roll models for the young ladies. They did not treat the young ladies like crap, did not overwork them, and their was no hazing.

Now we move over to Riverwood this year, because it was a better school with better SES. The whole Cheerleading has been a nightmear with abusive coaches. Less than a month into the season parents who were also new to the school started sending out an e-mail chain to question the everyday practive schedule that was exceeding the GHST rules. Then people started raising issues with how the coaches the Special Ed teacher ” Cheer Coach” who did not know anything about cheerleading coaching and the 20 year old with no college who was the community coach who were constantly berating our daughters. They were pitting girls and girls, threatening them on a daily basis, refusing spots. Then there were the injuries we had 5/19 girls with serious injuries that the team doctor, a Sports Medicine specialist stated were as a result of “over use” injuries or poor coaching. The coaches openly fought with the school’s trainer when he tried to help the girls. Parents tried to meet with them, they refused, as did the AD, we tried to go to the Principal he refused as well. Next, Supt. Avossa, fired Principal Echols for financial issues. Parents reported that they suspected the AD and Cheer Coaches had known about this, because how else could they have gotten away with this abuse of our daughters. So next the AD was fired by Avossa, for financial issues while he and the coaches were suspended for the abuse allegations.

But just like here it was blame the victim those of us with the injured daughters got e-mails and our daughter’s got threatening texts to stop the abuse claim against the AD and Coaches or our daughter’s lifes would be rough at Riverwood. They would list support for the AD and coaches you could tell they had been written by the AD and coaches and were cut and pasted by the parents, who wanted a favor in return for their child. This was turned over to Avossa. The AD was fired for financial issues. Fulton Counties investigator told me that they no longer needed to pursue the abuse charges against him since he resigned over being fired for the financial issues.

It is really sick when the parents want to blame other parents and kids who report this abuse. We were told maybe my child wasn’t cut out to be a Varsity Cheerleader. She had been one for 2 years at another school. Another family was also told this, their daughter had been one for three years. Then a mother who had been a Russian Ballerina was told this line too, she looked at them like they were nuts.

This school also had hazing of the freshman football players that resulted in the several of the seniors being suspended. Luckily some parents went right to the Sandy Springs Police and filed charges.

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Old School you says:

“We need to fix this – in house – not throught the media or any other way.”

In other words, cover it up. Make is hush hush and it will go away. Keep the silence.

Old School — that is exactly the WRONG way to do it.

What gets exposed gets attention and action. When you cover up a crime the criminal cannot be punished.

This is EXACTLY how the wretched Sandusky got away with raping little boys. Paterno and others “kept it in house” just as you advocate – and you see how that turned out — little boys were bruatlly raped because it was kept “in house.”

You’re also wrong about something else. I never knew bands hazed. I was also a cheerleader. I was never ever hazed.

Death and rape is not something you cover up and keep in house. It is a crime to be exposed and punished.

Gee whiz, the advice from Old School is treacherous.

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Jerry Eads- FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY is not a little college. Check the resume.

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“These people on here will believe anything if the news station says it”

One young person was murdered on the band bus (it has been ruled a homicide), and another had a thigh bone broken in a band related incident. I’m not sure how you can get more factual than that. The facts are what they are. That’s why they are called facts and not opinions.

Dr. Atkinson’s press release says she has heard reports of incidents of hazing in DeKalb. Why would she bring down the wrath of the bands on herself? Ignoring these reports would certainly have been the easier road for her.

You might want to let this one go and let Dr. Atkinson handle this. She is the leader of the school systems and bears the responsibility for the safety of 98,000 students.

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LEt’s hope that the media just does not focus on FAMU alone. Hazing is bigger the FAMU and exists at every college in the USA in some form or fashion, whether it affected you or not, whether you saw it or not, it was there.
FAMU is under alot more scrutiny than just the HAZING incident and the murder of a young man.
THere are issues at FAMU and other colleges (white and black colleges)that could potentially revoke their accreditation.
Understanding that the black colleges will (as always) receive the brunt of the criticism.

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