Rites of passage !

The word " Initiation " strikes abject fear into the hearts of those joining the ranks of educational institutions, closed societies or divisions of military service.  Somewhere in the dim, dark ages of the past it became the custom to humiliate and haze incoming members as part of a ritual of acceptance.   This even found it's way into the work environment.   In many cases, those starting a trade apprenticeship found themselves subjected to rituals that were both demeaning - and in some cases just downright dangerous.

Such a situation has developed at the 150 year old St John's College at the University of Sydney.   This Catholic institution is in disarray with the resignation of some board members over a culture of intimidation that has caused Cardinal George Pell to demand the resignation of serving priests from it's board.

What brought this to public attention was an instance when about thirty male students surrounded a new female member and intimidated her into drinking a toxic concoction that resulted in her needing hospital treatment.   It joins a long list of initiation rights that have blighted this nation's military academy and similar events in private industry - one of which saw an apprentice set alight by a colleague.

Just what is the basics of these " rights of passage " ? It seems that in many instances it is a case of the " herd mentality " imposing it's superiority on those joining the franchise.   In the British public school system, " freshers " were made to understand their inferiority by acting as servants for their more senior colleagues in what some simply called " institutionalised bastardry ".

One of the problems is that those who have passed through and become senior mentors of such institutions develop an affinity for the practice and vigorously defend it.   They usually have sufficient seniority to deflect criticism and resist any new procedures to install reform. Such seems to be the case at St Johns College.

In many instances initiations take a fairly harmless form, but they have a habit of extending under pressure of the "  herd mentality " and often involve forms of sexual humiliation which delivers titillation to the abusers, but inflicts lifelong psychiatric damage to the victim.

There is a pressing need to come down hard and abolish this rite of passage.   It tends to be practised in secret, and it lends credence to the notion that - scratch the surface - and those of this twenty-first century are no more civilized than the denizens of the dark ages !